Goodbye
by Rikana
Summary: [SessKag] InuYasha has been killed, sacrificing himself for Kagome. Lost, alone, and injured, Kagome struggles to keep it together. Traveling with Sesshomaru her emotions go haywire and she is lost, while he is just seeking to avenge InuYasha's death.
1. Snowfall

It's amazing how oblivious you are to your own weaknesses until you're at the point of death. As the blood drains away from your system, leaving you with a deadly emptiness, you realize how fragile life is. Before, I hadn't been afraid of death. It was just a constant happening around me, as I killed enemies without a second thought beside my friends. Most of us had stared death in the face, most of us had death as a shadow looming over us. But never before had I ever thought it would really happen to me. Someone would always be there to save me, to love me, and to protect me. And as I stumble thought the winters snow I finally realized how unstable a system like that is. To depend on another to live, to sit back as someone tries to hurt her, quietly screaming for her savior to rescue her. Really, it's quite stupid. If you can't stand up for yourself, how can you live? All you'll ever be is a burden. A whining, screaming, annoying burden.

I'm a fool. The irony is that only now, as I try to grasp onto life that's slipping through my fingers like water, that I have this stroke of wisdom. Only when the information is useless to me do I obtain it. Maybe... Maybe things could have been different if I'd known of my stupidity before.

I stumbled as my vision blurred further, tripping over a tree root hidden beneath the blood stained snow. Before I realized it I was face down on the ground, freezing in the cold, my whole body aching with pain. Why I continued to run wasn't quite clear, since it was inevitable that I die. My stomach bled with a deep wound, as did the cuts found everywhere on my body, the bruises slowly becoming much less distinct as the blood that gave them color drained away. Yes, we'd been attacked. And all the confidence that we'd had meant nothing in the end, when he had won and they had all...

Memories of the past hours came crashing back, and with the last of my energy I tried to shake them away. I was going to die here, lying in the cold snow, putting all their sacrifices to waste. If I had the chance or the opportunity to keep on going, I would. But death was inevitable. There wasn't anything I could do about it at this point, there wasn't any miracle cure for the wound that would be my end. I wanted to live on, to avenge them, but I couldn't. I just wasn't strong enough.

And then there was the grasping feeling of the cold that didn't come from the snow, a sudden numbing of my pain that came with an emptiness I had never experienced in my life. I knew the next breath I took would be my last and the next time I closed my eyes the wouldn't be able to open again. I knew... that I was going to die. And there wouldn't be any return this time.

He'd sacrificed himself so that I might live. And now it seemed his sacrifice would be useless. In his last actions, I had failed him.

"Forgive me..." my voice was weak as I uttered the words I knew were my very last, "...InuYasha."

And then darkness descended.

* * *

It was a war in itself as the young child lurked behind the trees, spotting out her prey as cold hands clutched the balled snow. And the small green toad only stood feet in front of her, oblivious as he searched for her, his croaking voice reprimanding her from afar. She just stifled her giggles behind her free hand, silently creeping over to put him in range of her weapon. And second later her laughter could no longer be held back as she chucked the harmless ball of snow at the back of the toad's head, the force sending the creature sprawling face first into the snow upon impact. Rin laughed as he gathered himself up to his feet, the old demon's face turning the strangest red-green color in anger, the sight only making her laugh harder as she managed to pack up another snow ball. And just as the withered and wrinkled being caught sight of her and opened his disgusting beak to yell at her, she tossed another ball of snow directly into his mouth, causing the toad to fall over on his back once again. Rin folded over in fits of laughter then, landing but first in the snow as she clutched at her side. Unknown to her, Jaken had pulled himself up to his feet and had packed his own snowball, mumbling under his breath as he aimed it her way. But the small toad had only been good at a few rare things in his life, and unfortunately for him, aim was not one of those things.

So, instead of hitting the girl, when the snowball was thrown her way it soared way over her head with a speed no one had expected him to achieve, the cold ball of white snow ran in a crash course towards a silent lord leaning up against a nearby tree. Without opening his eyes he caught the snowball in a graceful hand, motionless for the longest moment of Jaken's pathetic life. And after the suspenseful moment even Rin quieted for, Sesshomaru opened a single eye to meet gaze with a frightened Jaken, the golden depths unreadable.

Milliseconds later Jaken found himself with a throbbing headache, once again buried in the softness of the snow, suffering from a headache that was painful enough to be caused by something much harder than a snowball. Rin was laughing again and Sesshomaru was silent as he always was, his eyes once again closed as his ward lurked around in the snow. Mischievousness was like a disease that quickly spread through her body, her courage rising and her smile widening as she packed another snowball. So, she took her chance. With a tightly packed snowball and a nervous, mischievous glint, she threw the snowball at her lord, going quietly still as it soared his way. And, just like before, he caught it, staying silent for a moment. When he opened his eyes he stared at the snowball in his hands, tossing it up in the air carelessly only to catch it again.

Rin might have caught sight of the smallest smile on his face before she fell to the ground, clumps of snow falling out of her raven black hair.

"We shall leave." it was a direct command that quieted her laughter as her Lord walked away, causing her to chase after him.

And she just smiled as her fun was put to an end, her eyes looking up at the delicate snowflakes that fell from the Sengoku Judai sky.


	2. Death

Chapter Two

Death

Darkness... never ending darkness

That's all she saw.

The cold metal of chains chilled her pale skin, the sound of them echoing deep in her mind. And with closed eyes she stood, chains around her waist and wrists, stretching skyward, connecting Kagome to the real, to the last of her life.

'InuYasha... I'm so sorry...' she thought, sighing and opening her eyes.

And that's all she could think of, all she could do. Apologizing to him, over and over. And for a split second, for that on minute, her mind stopped. She thought of nothing, she saw nothing. Only the bright red color she'd been longing to see...

"InuYasha?"

And the figure of the hanyo nodded, smiling.

"InuYasha!"

She wanted to run, to go to him, to be with him. But the chains held her in her spot. She couldn't move. And with the sudden realization, her eyes watered. She felt horrid.

'An hour, an hour he's dead and it feels like a century... what's wrong with me?'

And tears fell once again in burning trails, proving her weakness. But a warm hand cradled her face, a finger wiping away her tears. And with chained wrists, she leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his waist, crying into his kimono.

* * *

Still ahead of Sesshomaru, Rin laughed and let the snowflakes fall into her open mouth. And as she stood regularly again she giggled, peeking into the forest behind the trees. Glancing back at Sesshomaru and Jaken occasionally, she was thoroughly enjoying herself, just being a kid.

Sesshomaru didn't really understand why she was so excited about the snow, but then again he understood she was a mortal child, so he bothered her not. And as he walked silently, his mind slowly worked, his thoughts all his own. Hew would pay attention to Rin one moment, then be lost I his head, repeating the process over and over. And, far the moment, he was watching Rin.

And as he did, Rin had poked her head back into the forest, but this time she didn't poke her head back out. Instead she had run in, a reason only known to her. That was until Sesshomaru caught the scent of blood.

"Retrieve her. Now." Sesshomaru ordered Jaken, stopping in his tracks.

---

'Blood... who does it lead to?' Rin wondered running along the path of blood soaked snow, just trying to find who or what it lead to.

By now the young girl had no reaction to seeing bloodshed; she had been exposed to it enough. But she had little experience of hate, near to none of evil. The girl was too young and blind at her age, in fact she was much like Kagome, give of take a few things. Along with that she had a great liking to Kagome, which would make this all the worse.

When the blood trail ended, there lay a body, the cold, pale body of Kagome

She screamed.

---

And the moment the sound of her scream reached Sesshomaru's ears he ran after it, no emotion coming to his face. Passing Jaken as her ran in demon speed, Sesshomaru was quickly a foot behind Rin. And he was slightly shocked as well, seeing the corpse of what was once his half-brother's miko companion.

He stepped in front of Rin, whom was crying silently, and knelt beside the body of the miko. Putting his hand on her pale cheek he gazed into her open, glazed, empty brown eyes.

'A worthless death.' He thought, glancing a her right hand, clenched into a fist.

And taking the fist, he pried open her fingers with ease. And, as he had expected, the glowing pink shard of the Shikon no tama lay there, slightly blood coated from a cut in her palm. And as the scent of her blood radiated from her whole body he stood.

"We're leaving." He said coldly, starting to walk away.

But Rin, for the first time in her travels, did not follow Sesshomaru as he left. Instead, she went up to the body and knelt beside it, closing her eyes.

"Rin, come you stupid girl, or Sesshomaru-sama shall leave you behind." Jaken said, turning around.

And a strange silence lingered in the air, and still Rin did not move.

".. Sesshomaru-sama?" she turned her head to look at the yokai, "Are we really just going to leave her here?"

Sesshomaru stopped walking and looked back at the young girl.

"Hai."

"...Rin can't just leave her here..." the girl said, speaking in third person as she usually did, "... Kagome-chan has become Rin's sister..."

"Are you begging for this miko's life Rin?" He asked, now fully turned towards Rin and Kagome's body.

"Hai..."

* * *

"InuYasha... can I stay with you... forever...?" Kagome asked, her arms still wrapped around him.

And as he brushed her bangs out of her face, with one arm around her waist, he shook his head, a solemn look in his face and in his eyes.

"Wh – why?" she asked, confused and almost to tears, "If I must stay here, why can I not stay with you?"

Once again, he shook his head with that same solemn look. And then Kagome couldn't help but bury her head back into his chest, trying not to cry.

"Please... just talk to me... please." came her muffled plea.

But he said nothing, just wrapped his arms around her tighter. He couldn't speak to her though he wanted to, he could only say a few things to the living, and now was not the time. Then his nose caught a scent that all of the dead knew the scent of the sword from the living.

"Kagome..."  
She jumped, his voice was different. It was distant, echoing, sounding as if two people were speaking at the same time.

"...I'm sorry, you can't stay with me. It is not your time..." He let go of her, stepping back a step.

"InuYasha...?"

"...Miroku and Sango may not be alive, the same with Shippo and Kirara. I have not seen them yet. But Kagome, you must let go of my memory, I am at peace. And remember–"

Kagome was suddenly yanked back, the chains rattling. She was being pulled back to the living, the chains tightening as she was lifted.

"– I love you."

* * *

Gasp. Chough. Sigh.

Sesshomaru sheathed Tenseiga as the miko struggled to catch her breath. He watched her for a moment, watched her struggle, and saw her cry. Then Rin was in front of him, kneeling next to Kagome.

"Kagome-chan! Are you okay?" the young girl asked, holding Kagome's shaking shoulders as she sat up.

But Kagome didn't answer, she just sat there, crying silently, not opening her eyes.

"Kagome-chan! Please! Open your eyes!" Rin said, wanting to make sure the girl whom she thought of as a sister was alright.

But there was only silence.  
Rin's heart dropped to her stomach.

"Kagome-chan..."

"Rin, we're leaving." said the cold voice of Sesshomaru.

And s the yokai turned around and began to walk away, Rin stood, aware that she had pushed her luck enough today. And as she turned she felt horrible, but she had little choice, so she left, hoping Kagome would speak for herself.

Silence.

"Please..." Kagome opened her eyes, "...don't leave me here..."

Sesshomaru continued to walk, but spoke in reply.

"Go to InuYasha, you are his companion, not mine."  
"...InuYasha... is dead..."


	3. Tetsusaiga

Sesshomaru just... kinda froze. His mind didn't seem to register her words right away, but that didn't last. Turning his head to look over his shoulder at the miko, Sesshomaru wondered if the wounds she was suffering caused her to become dillusional. It just seemed that his half brother had been to stubborn to die, and with Tetsusiaga at his side it seemed impossible. But then he looked into her eyes. Full of sadness and longing, despair and depression. At that moment he knew she was not lying, vaugley remembering how much she seemed to care for InuYasha no matter what he did.

"Dead?" he asked softly.

She nodded, looking to the side distantly, "... Na- Naraku killed him..."

A rage erupted inside Sesshomaru. Though he had thought no one else could possibly be his half-brother's murder, hearing it made his rage stronger. That damn hanyo dare harm a member of his family, that was his buisness and no others. And at that moment he knew he would not be set at rest until Naraku lay dead at his feet, his brother's death avenged. His eyes were drawn to the miko once more. He knew InuYasha had loved her, and knew that he had most likely sacrificed his life for her. At the least, well, it wouldn't hurt...

"Get up miko, we're leaving."

* * *

Silence. Silence in her mind, her world, her reality.

The young miko stared out to the forest while Rin leaned up against her chest, fast asleep. Riding on the large yokai that tagged along with Sesshomaru, she made no sound, just stared blankly and thought. The taiyokai bothered her none, him too lost deep in his own thoughts while he walked just feet ahead of them, Jaken in turn trying to keep up with his lord. Maybe he worried about her, maybe he didn't. Not even the taiyokai himself was sure of his own thoughts. All he knew was that he would find his hanyo brother's body later this night while the others slept, and at least give him a descent funeral next to his mortal mother's grave. Only because InuYasha had been his last "close" family, where as he and his mother bearly spoke to one another now a days.

Behind him, the miko too was trying to deal with her friends death. She was hurting, her wounds patched but sore, her head feeling as if it would split in two at any time... She just wanted to cry.

_Alone..._ _I'm alone, alone... they're dead... all of them...why?..._

And as the tears welled up in her eyes, she wiped them away as quick as she could. She wanted to stay strong, to be able to deal with this... but doubt filled her mind. Kagome knew no matter what she did, if she managed to kill Naraku and avenge their deaths, they wouldn't come back. Not even Sesshomaru could bring them back at this point. It was too late. Much too late for anyone. But the worst was just that one reality, one she could have never fathomed until it happened, the reality of how fragile everything was and is. It could all dissapear in a matter of seconds. Years could dissaperate in millisecond with one small action. And now more than ever she feared life, she feared for her own and for everyone else's around her more than ever.

_- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -_

_Not again. Please... no... not again. I - I can't stand this anymore..._

The distressed demon slayer wiped tears away from her eyes feircely, trying to pull herself together, trying to think straight. But no matter how determined she was at this point, no matter how much she willed, she could not get to her feet and walk away as she had all the other times before. This time, everything she had left was gone in a mere second. And this time, this time it was just too much for her mind.

Around her lay the bodies of her commerads, minus InuYasha and Kagome. In a last desperate attempt they had fled from Naraku, flying away on Kirara as the demons had advanced. She, Miroku, and Shippo couldn't fight them at this point, Miroku had not the courage or strength to open the Kazanna at this point. But, miraculously, Kirara had used all her remaining energy to get them off their trail, hiding in the brush that the bodies now lay. Shippo had just collapsed from the poisin flowing in his veins as Kirara had landed, hitting the ground long after he had died. Kirara had too collapsed from her wounds and lack of demonic energy - and died, just like that. But Miroku, InuYasha's stubborness must have rubbed off on him. It had taken hours of fever, tears, and pain for him to pass away. And in those hours he had layed his head in Sango's lap and spoken softly to her, whether she understood him or not, in tears or in pain, nothing could shut him up. But then, with a sigh and a sudden shaking of his body he whispered his last words of love into Sango's ears and released his last breath, starting the journey to join his commerads in the afterlife.

Now the demon slayer knelt, shaking in tears, alone in the darkest day in her life. Her family was gone, her friends murdered, her love dead, her brother helpless under the control of a dark spider hanyo... it could make someone commit suicide at this point. Not one person could deal with what Sango had dealt with in the past, no one could still fight and seek revenge after the horror of her past tragedies - but she had. She had learned to move on and fight, to laugh and love, to drive herself so far by the one determination of revenge. But now it had all piled on top of her, growing heavier and heavier, until today. Today was her darkest day, the day she had broken. The day she had given up on life...

_Is death... that bad? _she thought in depression, _Could dishonoring my family and myself be so bad? There is no honor left to defile anyways, the honor disapeared as they did... the honor I had died today with Miroku, Kirara, InuYasha, Kagome, and Shippo. Kohaku isn't alive now, his corpse is - not the boy that was my brother. Naraku has destroyed everything I ever thought I had, ever since... ever since the day I tried to defend myself of Kohaku's mindless murder..._

Slowly the young woman turned these suicidal thoughts over in her head, considering her own death. Then reality slapped her right in the face. They had died trying to avenge their loved ones and pride, they had died in a battle to save anyone that could fall victim to Naraku's hand if the jewel would ever fall in his power. If she died now, who would be there to save them? Sesshomaru maybe, but he was to unpredictable to put your trust in him to kill Naraku. No, she would live, she'd work though this just like she had in the past. She would avenge everyone... or, at least, she would try.

_- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -_

Rin still slept against Kagome's chest, temporarily lost in a world of little fear and evil, fast asleep. But the young miko lay awake, silent as the dead. She was thinking about her last encounter with InuYasha, thinking about his words, his warmth, his love. She missed him. In so little time away, she missed him with all her heart. She half wondered if she could even face going home - she half wondered how long staying with Sesshomaru would last. He tolerated Rin, but he probably wouldn't tolaterate her for long. Craning her neck to look at the stars she wished she could just sit InuYasha and he'd come falling down from the heavens. It might hurt him, but she was pretty sure he wouldn't mind much. But she knew that those little fantasies would never come true... she knew that she wouldn't see him untill she died, a day which seemed too far away.

She knew he had given his life for her, and she knew he was happy. And no matter what happen from this point on - she would kill Naraku with her arrow and avenge InuYasha's death, even if it killed her. No matter what happened from now on, nothing would stop her from killing Naraku. Not Kaugra, not Kanna, no one would stop her.

Sighing, she returned her gaze to the forest in front of her. She could feel the tears running down her cheeks, leaving cold trails behind them, falling onto her school uniform. But she didn't care at this point. Sesshomaru was gone, Jaken and Rin were asleep. There was no one to see her cry at this point, no one but the stars. And the stars wouldn't talk - they never did. The stars held secrets of past civilizations and the ancient people, they held the secrets of time and space, they held the secrets of her travels and her sorrows, they held the secrets from the people of modern day America to the people of modern day Japan. Then, slowly, the young miko's eyelids drooped, closed, and she fell into a restless sleep in the dead of the night.

--------

Kagome awoke in the early morning, pained with a headache and aching injuries, she wasn't too suprised to find Rin still cuddled close to her. She closed her eyes again, half wishing she could go back to sleep and return to her dreams. She had felt alive in her dreams, like everything that had happened had been the dream. She'd been with them all, laughing and having a good time around a blazing fire that danced in front of her eyes. There had been no worries about Naraku or the collecting of the jewel shards, they had all just been teasing one another - mainly InuYasha- and swapping stories about the happier times of their childhoods. But now that was over, the dream had faded into oblivion as her eyes had opened. They were gone with the night.

Slowly the young one started to stir, Kagome shifting her position. For a moment Kagome saw her as a close example of herself as a young one, but quickly dissmissed the thought, not seeing a real point in the line of thought. Instead she turned her attention to the upcoming sense of a yokai, but soon recognized it as Sesshomaru, then standing as the young one did. Rin gave her a good morning smile, then began to rub sleep out of her eyes, yawning. Glancing at Sesshomaru as he appeared from behing the trees, something caught her eye. He had Tetsusaiga in his hand.

"...Wh- Where did you get that Sesshomaru?" she asked, her eyes not moving from the sword.

He gave a short glance her way, then spoke in a low tone, "I went and found InuYasha's body last night - at least what was left of it. I buired it next to his mortal mother's grave, then found this on my way back. The hanyo had enough sense to get rid of it before he died, otherwise, this would be in Naraku's filthy hand at this point."

Then, without a glance back, he began to walk back into the trees at a different route from which he came, Rin running after him. Kagome followed hesitantly, slightly shocked. Sesshomaru had enough care to go find and bury InuYasha's remains... which was the last thing that would be expected from the taiyokai. She then began to follow Rin, her head spinning.

_

* * *

"...Closing your eyes to dissapear, you pray your dreams will leave you here...  
And still you wake, but know the truth, no one's there...  
Say goodnight, don't be afraid, calling me, calling me as you fade to black...  
Holding my last breath, safe inside myself...  
Of all my thoughts of you  
Sweet raptured life, it ends here tonight..."  
-"My Last Breath" Evanescence_


	4. Power and Weakness

Slowly walking down the narrow dirt path Kagome stared blankly out into the landscape. On the side of a grass cliff she could see the land of feudal Japan, missing the cars and the skyscrapers, sirens and traffic lights - only the mountains, trees and rivers. A day long before technology would infiltrate nature. Midday was approaching slowly, the sun glaring down upon the small group with warm rays. Listening to the sound of feet on the dirt, the young miko closed her eyes, imagining her home. Maybe she'd return one day, but not until Naraku lay dead in her sight, not until he was in hell. A small laugh echoed in the endless walls of her mind. Not even the afterlife would prove safe for him anyways... not with InuYasha there to kick his ass.

Her thoughts stopped abruptly when the sun dissapeared behind a cloud and everyone stopped dead. Just seconds ago the sky had been cloudless, which only meant one thing. And, on cue, the winds appeared with a deafening gust and there appeared the mistress of the wind, Kagura. Grabbing for her bow she found none - cursing. Her bow had been destroyed in the previous battle, leaving her without a weapon at this point. Of course her miko powers were an option, but her range with that was limited to her arrows. She'd used them once before, but then she'd been under someone else's control. Then she didn't know what the hell she had been doing.

_I guess there's no better time than the present to learn._

Noticing that only she and Sesshomaru remained of the small group after Rin and Jaken had fled from the scene, the miko tensed, she'd never felt so useless in battle before. Half trying to recall what little things she had been taught about miko powers from Kaede or from the "legends" in her history class, she found herself lost in a storm of random fragments of memory.

"You know Naraku not very happy with that little escape you pulled, miko." Kagura said with a calm tone, distracting Kagome's thoughts, "and now I have to do the dirty work. At least I don't have to deal with InuYasha this time-"

"You have to deal with me instead, Kagura." Sesshomaru cut in, "And now I have Tetsusiaga."

Kagura made a half laugh at the comment, "We all know you can't use the damn sword anyways Sesshomaru. So that proves just as worthless as InuYasha at the moment."

That was when Kagome saw it. Something she hadn't noticed before. This morning when Sesshomaru had returned with Tetsusaiga, he'd been holding it in a right hand - not his left. For a moment she felt relieved, she relaxed. With Sesshomaru having the Tetsusiaga this would presumably be a short battle, she wouldn't have to do much anything. Then her mind crossed the question of where he had gotten the arm. Then she felt naseous. That was InuYasha's arm. The only arm he could get a hold of, one that wouldn't wither away because of the demonic blood combining with his. And eventually the mortal blood in the arm would die- the arm would only contain demon blood - something Sesshomaru could deal with. She was deeply repulsed, but pushed the thought away for now, she had something else to deal with now.

Gazing upon the scene with more intensity she saw the look of horror upon Kagura's face from the same realization of Sesshomaru's arm, she saw the many demons of Naraku's control flocking behind her. But those flock of demons died in an instant as Tetsusaiga swung downwards, beams of light going their way, bodies falling out of the sky and crumpling like peices of paper...

"Dance of Dragons!" Kagura cried, using her most powerful attack in desperation, fighting for her life.

Yet Sesshomaru just merely dodged it while Kagome jumped out of the way, the yokai smirking. Then he slowly sheathed the Tetsusaiga with the arm from the body of his half brother, raising it to face her, begining to swing...

"Backlash Wave." the Tetsusaiga let out a fiersome attack, one stronger than when InuYasha had previously used it, Sesshomaru speaking quite calmly and almost mockingly as he let out all hell.

The attack obliterated any few stubborn yokai left standing, destroying all bodies of the dead, leaving scortch markes on the ground, leaving trees proclaimed leafless, changing the winds, and blowing its weilders hair back as it pushed him back ever so slightly. Then as the attack dissaperated, the winds blowing themselves away, a small white feather floated to the ground, landing softly on the ground. Kaugra had died with a single attack from Sesshomaru, an attack she had been able to escape previously when InuYasha had lived. It was then that Kagome saw how much Sesshomaru _did _outrank InuYasha in terms of power and the useage of the Tetsusaiga. She realized how much he had held back in the past, how many opportunities he had passed to kill InuYasha. She finally realized how much more of this demon there was to learn and discover, how much deeper he really was.

The sound of Tetsusaiga returning to it's shealth broke the deadly silence, following the sound of his retreat and both yokai and mortal returning from hiding to follow after him, the sound of her feet following them with their own control. She could have stood their all day in shock, she could have just frozen. But her mind had told her body to follow out of a curiousity to find the real Sesshomaru behind the cold barrier of his mind, which she knew he would have to lower for her. But would he?

* * *

The next few days had passed with no further happenings, just silence and the occasional yelling of Jaken at both Kagome and Rin - but mostly Rin. Once or twice Rin and Kagome had spoken in conversation, but most of the time she was too distant to really hold a conversation for a long time. Sesshomaru hadn't spoken once on the journey after the battle with Kagura, he'd just kept to himself in silence. Just as Kagome had known him in the past. And as the days dragged on Kagome found herself yet again camped out, leaning up against the tree with Rin next to her in the night. Neither of them were asleep, just staring at the small dancing flames of the fire, thinking. The stars twinkled down upon them yet again, the moon absent this night. The new moon. This night InuYasha would have become mortal, meaning he would be as cranky as ever. Kagome wondered if he still had to deal with it. She gave a mental laugh at the image of his face if he was mortal right now, the look of total frustration and anger, annoyance and hot temper effecting everyone and anyone around. Shippo would probably be making fun of him at this point... 

And with a sigh she tried not to think of them, at least for now. It still hurt her inside, yet she found she was slowly learning how to cope - just not very well. Still when she thought of the relationship she and InuYasha had, any of the few times they had kissed or hugged, every time she had found him caring for her while she lay in his arms, the tears had begun to show. She wondered if she would ever find a way to love someone else without feeling guilt, without feeling as if she was betraying his memory. Turning her gaze from the dancing fire to the stars she made a silent prayer to no kami, but to her friends. She hoped they were safe, that they were happy, that they were somewhere much better than here. She told them how she was feeling, how she was trying to cope with their deaths. But most of all, she told InuYasha she loved him, she forgave him for whatever he had done to anger her, she told him that she missed his warmth in the cold nights, and anything and everything she could think of. But last, she spoke to Sango. She told the demon slayer that she had been the closest friend she could ever dream of having, the sister she had always wanted. She gave her wishes of good luck with Miroku, she asked if she could give him a nice little slap everytime he pulled a pervert move just for old times sake. Yet, the miko was praying for nothing when telling these things to Sango. She had no idea that not a few miles away the demon slayer bathed under the same stars, praying to her in turn.

* * *

It had taken a day to bury her friends in the spot where they had last stood. At the break of dawn she had started to search the surrounding areas for three large but movable stones to carve the names of the deceased on which had taken only half of an hour, and when she had returned she had followed to dig out three graves. One large, two small. It had taken most of the afternoon to complete the task, using her hands and whatever else would help her on her task. But in the end, when the sun was high in the sky, she had moved the pale bodies from the spots where they had each died, a small Kirara to the far left grave, then Shippo to the middle, and lastly Miroku to the far right, largest grave. Then the next few hours were used to refill the graves with the dirt she had labored to dig out, pushing and shoving the heaping mounds of dirt. But when the task had finally finished, three spots of brown amongst the grass, the hardest task came along. Carving three names into solid rock. She had used any weapon that she could afford to dull in the task, the sun slowly beginning to sink in the sky. But soon the three names appeared on the rocks, then being moved to their appropriate graves. The sun had been dissapearing by that time, turning the sky a shade of pink while Sango place three small bundles of flowers by each tombstone, giving her last respects to the dead as tears began to flow down her face. Yet then, as she said her last goodbyes, something inside of her sparked. 

_They're all happy now. All of them. InuYasha, Miroku, Kagome, Kirara, and Shippo. They're all happy now... And I have no doubt InuYasha is finally meeting his father for the very first time as I stand here, rejoining with his mother. And Shippo too, he's rejoicing with his parents. Miroku is seeing his father and mother once again, maybe even meeting my family, _a small smile graced the woman's lips, _I hope they're not giving him too much of a hard time... And Kagome -- she's happy with InuYasha now. Not having to worry about Kikyo or Naraku, or anyone for the fact of the matter. Maybe she too is meeting his father and mother, maybe members of her family that have passed away... I - I wish you all luck..._

* * *

The day had been mostly the same as always, following Sesshomaru and humoring Rin... until the middle of the day. Rin had yet again started to look around the surrounding area on the outskirts of the group, looking in and out of small clearings. But then she saw three graves, small and large, in the middle of the clearing. She had gone over to them and knelt by each of them, paying silent respects to the deceased as she always did as she found graves along the journey. When she had opened her eyes after silence, she approached the writings on the stones, tracing the kanji written on the rocks. She didn't know how to read herself, she didn't know who's names were carved there. But as she didn't follow the group as in being distraced, Kagome went over to her in a power walk and took her hand, gesturing for her to hurry, glancing at the graves in half intrest. 

At first she thought her mind was playing tricks on her. Rin's hand slid from her as the young one ran ahead to catch up to her group, but Kagome bearly noticed it. She was rereading the kanji quickly, trying to think that her mind found this a very cruel joke. It couldn't be true. No one else knew their names besides Miroku's elderly friend Mushin... But still the kanji did not change. She couldn't hear Rin call her name.

_Miroku... Shippo... Kirara... _the miko couldn't believe the names written on the stones. Yet again Rin's call evaded her.

The young woman was too much in shock for her stone ears to crack, she couldn't believe that they were there under the ground. Distant enough not to notice the skin scraping on the ground as she sank to her knees, too distant to notice the hot tears run down her face. She didn't feel Rin shake her shoulders, she didn't know she was muttering thier names in an undertone. She didn't even notice Sesshomaru come near. Only when Sesshomaru himself nudged her knee with his foot did she look up and come back to her reality.

"Kagome-chan? What is wrong?" the young girl asked, kneeling next to her, "Is it someone under these stones tha-?"

"Rin, go back to Jaken." Sesshomaru interjected, trying to avoid any more tears being shed by the miko.

The taiyokai had already read the names out of curiosity, needing to know why the miko had broken down. Only by vauge memory of InuYasha yelling at them during thier battles did he know who they were, and he understood her pain in a way. After Rin was waiting next to Jaken as she had been instructed did he turn to the miko. Maybe he could have waited to let her stand on her own, but he ordered her anyways. Yet as the time passed she failed to comply to his orders, too shocked to hear him. And, with a mental sigh, Sesshomaru actually knelt to her level and put his hand under her arm, pulling her to her feet as he stood.

"Miko, you can do nothing to avenge their deaths at this point, we are nowhere near Naraku's lair." he said softly, trying to show her a reality that couldn't be altered. But whether or not she had heared him was beyond his knowledge.

Still she remained silent, staring down at the graves, hearing him but not wanting to. She wanted them all to live, to be alive again so they could live and prosper. So they could be happy with _her, _so she might see the kitsune she could have called her adopted son. Then something clicked in her mind.

She spun around to face Sesshomaru, "Tenseiga - please use it - please Sesshomaru..." she paused, "-sama... Please..."

Not expecting the miko sudden outburst and use of formailty his way, Sesshomaru was silent, knowing the truth was inevitable.

He spoke in his usual calm with cold uncaring eyes, "It is too late to use the sword. They have been dead for yet a day or so." he silently watched, pausing as the tears welled up in her eyes, "The demon slayer does not lie beneath the ground."

His last sentence lingered and hung in the air as he walked away, moving the group forward once again, leaving Kagome behind. Though once again stunned, Kagome this time hear the young girls call, and turned to chase after them, a small glisen of hope lingering in the back of her mind. Now she knew one of them was alive - but to a slight dissapointment it wasn't InuYasha. She had seen him on her way to hell, it couldn't be him - Sesshomaru had buried him. Then there was Sango...

_She's... alive... _thought Kagome slowly, trying to let it all sink in, _oh thank Kami she's alive. At the least we won't be completely alone - oh Sesshomaru-sama... please, help me find her. I'll do anything... just help me find her._

_---_

Over the next few days Kagome had found an abandoned bow in a feild of the dead, a place where Naraku had obviously masscared and left, a place where the innocent had suffered for little to no reason. And as Kagome had picked up the weapon and its arrows she thought of the Holocaust. She thought of how millions of Jews were slaughtered for the reason that they didn't _look_ the way Hitler wanted them to. If they were unable to work, they were killed. If one was pregnant and somehow managed to give birth, the baby would die. If one was sick, they were gassed. If one said "no," they were shot. Wasn't this like the situation at hand? If they were against Naraku, they would die. If they were mortal, they would die. If they fought against his rule, they would die. The massacre that would happen years in the future from this point was reliving in a smaller and slower pace, but could grow as big as it would be in Germany in matters of seconds.

Upon leaving the place she payed respects to the dead, silently thanking the owner of this bow she now carried on her back for allowing her to fight with it. And as the sight dissapeared from view she felt the wieght of the world again. She felt the burnden of this journey continue to grow. If they didn't stop him, or at the least try, this mindless and senseless killing could only continue and destroy the lives of thousands. And for the first time she noticed how wrong history had been recorded, she had never heard of a tyrant that killed the innocent by the name of Naraku. Not even a feeble myth lay for him. Maybe it was better that he was immortalized only in her mind and his victims minds, and not that of time while his legacy lay in a book. She noticed that the fabrics of time literally lay in her fate and her hands. If she hadn't released InuYasha from the tree, if she hadn't fallen down the well with Mistress centipede Naraku would have won everything over quite quickly. Her time, her present, would be absolutley differnet. Everything that happened in her life fate had been at fault. So, if she failed, she would fail the world and its inhabitants. She would doom them.

Sesshomaru having no idea of her private life could present itself as a problem at a point too came as a sudden realization. He had, luckily, taken no intrest in her in the past. He hadn't cared where she had gotten her clothes or items that healed InuYasha, he had simply minded his own buisness. But now, things could change in an instant. She knew it would be just stupid and senseless to lie to him, for he would be able to tell if she were lying, and only press harder on an answer. But she had decided not to tell him unless the situation were brought into consideration, in case she had to return home or something. Right now though, going home was last on the to do list.

Then Koga reached her mind. He didn't know of her commerad's death, of InuYasha's death, and he didn't know where she was now... Oh kami. If he went to find her and couldn't, he'd go ballistic. Especially if he came across the battle ground where her blood still stained the grass... Damn it. He would go ballistic.

* * *

Sango had travled that night, walking quite mindlessly, hoping she'd run into someone that was at least slightly familiar. But she hadn't been that lucky, instead, her mind had seemed to discard all rememberance of the information she had learned on demons. She'd walked straight into a few demons that night all because she'd been mindless. And by dawn, she was coated in the scent of yokai blood, hirakotsu coated in red. Her katana had been shattered in one fight, so she was now one weapon short, but nowhere near helpless. At least if her mind found her fighting skills worthless and then too decided to discard them until she pulled herself together. 

Now she sat with her back to a cold, hard, stone wall, hugging her knees in the darkness of the cave. She had discarded hirakotsu feet away from her, the band for her hair lying in a heap next to it. She wasn't able to sleep, or to even eat, for there was nothing for her to eat right now. That had been usually handled by Kagome, the food coming from the depths of her monsterous yellow backpack, and Sango had half forgoten how to catch food on her own. And even when she had been independent, Kirara had always been there to help. Come to think of it, she had caughten most of the food.

A sigh escaped the lips of the demon slayer. She realized she was screwed over at this point. Never before had she been completely alone, there had always been someone or something with her, even if she couldn't communicate with it in the same language.

_Damn... I'm hopeless... alone, hopeless, and pitiful._

The thought of sleep began to cross her mind in slow succession to beating herself up mentally, wondering why she'd been so naive as to never listen to the elders in the long, lost yokai slaying clan who had many a time try to tell stories of how they survived alone in the forests. The idea of sleep came to her as quite a good idea, but yet she couldn't been able to try. Maybe she felt she couldn't sleep until they were avenged... but without sleep there was no energy. That was a natural law and it was stupid to try to rebel against it. So, slowly, the course of night and day was reversed as the demon slayer feel in a deep sleep as everything and everyone else entered the waking world.

---

She had woke to the sound of darkness, the sound of nothingness and emptiness. She found herself yet again in the night.

_Maybe night is where I belong... where no one can see me or hear me... a place where I can be nothing, _she thought blandly, now not afraid to be nothing. She had feared being nothing in the past, scared she would never be seen or heard by the people she loved, but now, that didn't seem all bad. There was no one to hear or see her anyways... _And I guess, if I'm nothing, someone will eventually find me. How many things have I searched for something that I know is nothing when I think there is something missing with in me. I searched for a brother from the past when I knew there was nothing there. I watched Kagome search for a love that would never be full, she too knew InuYasha's heart would be nothing compared to a full fledged love. She knew she only had half of his heart and she could only keep that half. Koga too search for a love from Kagome that was nothing, and yet he still searched when he knew it wasn't there... that it _was_ and would remain nothing... I guess... that searching feeling is part of everyone... even if I am nothing I too will search for nothing. Even right now I know my heart is searching for Miroku and the others, even though I _know _they are nothing now._

She stood, depressed, and lonely, picking up her weapon but abandoning the tie she had worn in her hair. Then she slowly exited the cave and began again in aimless wandering through the night trying to find something to remember.

Koga, the leader of the a now threesome clan of wolf-yokai, walked in the night, searching for Ginta and Hakku with a dead boar slung over his shoulder. The friends he often called idiots were avoiding him again after they had tried to talk him out of chasing after Kagome, and this time they had hidden themselves quite well.

"Ginta! Hakku!" Koga called half heartedly, "Where the hell are you!"

After the yokai had made them run at a false attack of anger, he had gone off to cool off, just as he always did when they questioned his love for her. To him they made no sense, but in reality, the words they spoke made complete sense. He was chasing something he would never get, he was wasting his time on a meaningless puppy-dog love. But, of course, the wolf yokai hadn't seen the sense in thier words and stomped off in anger. At least his anger had earned them a nice dinner. A dinner that might just end up for one if he couldn't find the two scaredy cats...

"Ginta. Hakku." The life was now lost from his voice, he was uterlly bored, "Get your asses out here. I'm not angry. And I have food if that's of any importance."

Yet the two still didn't appear in the darkness. Koga wondered if they had gotten into some trouble after all. Then, heaving a sigh, the yokai jumped into the starry night and gazed down at the trees below him before the law of gravity would come into effect. Dark green... a grayish rock... more dark green trees... then a striking white mohawk.

_Found you, you idiots. _Koga thought in a laugh as the laws of gravity sent him straight at them, silently and swiftly as a feather falling...

/BONK!/

Now Ginta and Hakku sported large bumps on their heads where Koga had hit them with his right fist, a smirk planted on thier attakers face, "C'mon you idiots, let's eat."

---

The fire flickered and danced infront of the trio, everyone's stomach no longer empty. They were all leaned back and chatting peacefully, both Ginta and Hakku avoiding the topic of Kagome for the moment, at least the moment where Koga was actually peaceful. All three of them were enjoying the silent night while they could, none of them sure how long these tranquil moments would continue now. The run and chase routine was coming to end soon and they all knew it. Naraku would soon find steady ground and stick his hands into the lives of all, and then they'd have to find him on his own ground and try to defeat him alongside the hanyo idiot and his friends, and maybe beside that yokai that was the hanyo's half-brother... but they hoped that wouldn't be _too _soon.

"Hey... Koga," Ginta said inquistivley, "Isn't that the scent of the chick who hangs out with Kagome and the others? The yokai slayer chick?"

Koga sniffed the air and paused, "Yeah... it is. And it's covered in blood... Guess it's time to play hero. You guys coming?"

As Koga stood the two other yokai shook thier heads, thier eyes following his movements.

"We're not exactly the 'saving-people type' are we Koga?" Ginta said lazily, "You go deal with it, you know her anyways. She'll probably attack us anyways if she is on the defensive. She can't see well in the dark and we haven't exactly met her before-"

"And she'll probably be able to kick our asses." Hakku finished with a goodbye wave as Koga sighed and jumped up into the night, going after the scent of his "love's" friend's scent.

A loud sound of bone snapping filled the steady air, followed in quick succession by a whimper of pain from a hurt yokai slayer that was off in her battle. And that unbalance in the now distorted skills of battle may be her last. But yet Sango was much too stubborn to let a mental problem kill her. Yet again she stood to her feet and threw hirakotsu with the untrained hand as the other arm was bent in a way that was abnormal, but it missed it's mark again, followed by the sound of body against bark.

Now Sango was chocking in a death hold, neck pinned to tree with a firm, deadly hold.

_Father always said stupidity would be the end of you. _She thought as she clawed at the hand of the yokai, only to be returned by a mocking stare and a small laugh.

He was huge compared to her - she was an insect under his hieght. His hand could have easily covered her face, it was already wrapped full around her neck. But that hand was suddenly torn away unexpectidly, a sound of fist against face following quickly. Sango had simply just fallen to the base of the tree, the unbroken arm lifiting her hand to rub an abused neck, small drops of blood falling to her palm. Another sound of skin on skin fighting and a yokai roar of pain made Sango look upon her savior.

_I'm glad I put up with Koga and InuYasha's antics... _A mental laugh echoed through her mind as she cradled her broken arm.


	5. Yokai and Humans

**A/N: Hey, I'm glad you guys like the fanfic! 12 reviews is a big thing... well, for me at least! O.o  
Well, anyways, please enjoy and review! Oh, and if you want to send me anything about the fanfiction, email me at: iwilleatchocolate (at) gmail (dot) com. **

* * *

_...He was huge compared to her - she was an insect under his height. His hand could have easily covered her face, it was already wrapped full around her neck. But that hand was suddenly torn away unexpectedly, a sound of fist against face following quickly. Sango had simply just fallen to the base of the tree, the unbroken arm lifting her hand to rub an abused neck, small drops of blood falling to her palm. Another sound of skin on skin fighting and a yokai roar of pain made Sango look upon her savior._

_I'm glad I put up with Koga and InuYasha's antics... A mental laugh echoed through her mind as she cradled her broken arm._

**

* * *

**

Koga gave the limp body a last hard kick, giving it a dirty look and a rude hand gesture. After a moment of staring at it he turned his back to the corpse, turning his attention towards the demon slayer he had just saved.

"You alright?" he asked as he advanced on her, kneeling at her side.

"Broken arm, but I've been worse..." she said, give the yokai a gaze then returning to nursing her arm.

"C'mon," he said with a heave as he lifted her up, "I'll take you back to InuTrasha. Where is the mutt any-"

"Koga. We can't go back to him."

"What do you mean, 'we can't go back to him'? You get in some kinda fight?"

His look was of pure confusion, and Sango had a hard time even bringing herself to think about telling him. She could just see him, standing in shock, silent as death it self. She could see him look away like he didn't care, she could imagine herself seeing his pain through his eyes. Yet, deep in her heart, she knew she had to tell him. Otherwise, when he found out on his own, it would be even worse...

With a deep and heavy sigh, she spoke softly, "Koga, I can't tell you how much I hurt... but they're dead... InuYasha, Miroku, Shippo..." She paused in the lone darkness, suddenly feeling quite alone,

"... and Kagome."

* * *

But, the days had passed without any sightings of yokai slayers, and Kagome had began to return to her depressed after the hope died away. Sesshomaru hadn't said a word for days now, and not even the littlest hint of curiosity had arouse in Kagome's mind as it usually did when Sesshomaru seemed to take a vow of silence, she was far to distant. Even young Rin hadn't spoken for a while now, and somehow she to sensed the depression. Rin had learned gradually that Kagome's undying "fight-for-others" had begun to extinguish itself, Rin even found herself slightly disgusted as Sesshomaru would be, this was not the Kagome she knew as an acquaintance. The real Kagome was a preppy, happy, caring girl, not a depressed one. But still she said not a word and bothered the young miko none. 

_Why, why is the world treating me so? It takes away my friends, all but one, then refuses to give her to me... How the hell did this happen?! Damn it, just because some damn ass shikon seeking centipede woman dragged me down the well who's legend I thought insane and mental! Damn her and damn everyone! Everyone whom has made me continue this _damn_ "magical" life! Can't you just give me a break? _Kagome thought bitterly, releasing her anger on herself and upon the world, _Give me a break and let me die-!_

Kagome didn't really want to die, she didn't conciously think that, she just wanted it all to end. Everything, all of the pain - even if it ended when she died. But right now all she wanted was to see the last day of pain, and she wanted to see it soon. Hell, she wanted to see it NOW. But, no, she knew that day was nowhere near...

"Kagome-san, Rin is wondering if there is something worrying you. You seem... sad."

Kagome snapped back into reality at the young one's words, suddenly realizing she'd probably been muttering under her breath,

"Oh, Rin, I'm fine. It's nothing really."

---

Sesshomaru didn't know why he got so annoyed when someone lied. Maybe it had started when he just tired of them when he was younger. But still, the miko's lying had got on his nerves slightly. He understood why, it was too early for her to start speaking of the moments where death had seperated her from her commerads, no mortal found that easy.

The taiyokai had also noticed other traits the miko had come of after his hanyo brothers death. She wasn't the miko he had once fought against; she wasn't the girl that had refused to give him the sword of his father - quite defiantly - and nearly died because of it. That spark had just vanished. He knew others took death differently, he took no emotions of it, Rin had gone mute, his brother had had to struggle through depression when his mother had died, and so many others. But he had never seen this before. Kagome was on the brink of suicide in a way, in means that she would die to avenge them or she would die to see them. She was... _torn _in to directions in a way he had never seen before.

Yet still, the powerful taiyokai found no pity for the young, distressed, miko. He just kept his regular composure of careless, and continued to lead the group down an aimless search for Naraku, half of his mind keeping a lookout for the scent of the yokai slayer that Kagome so desperately wanted to find.

* * *

...He would have stumbled back if he hadn't been holding the injured girl. She had closed her eyes in expectation, but he hadn't really noticed. 

"_Dea-- dead_?..." his voice was wavering in a whisper, "What do you mean..."

He sounded as if he was talking from his thoughts, but Sango nearly nodded, trying to fight back tears, "I couldn't find her body - or InuYasha's. But I saw him die, and I saw the bloody snow before it melted... she's dead. I'm --- sorry."

He closed his eyes, his head bent low. Sango felt him shake as he held her - shaking with deadly silent tears. And yet she soon found herself in the air, lifted by the wolf yokai's strong legs. Just as the decent began she caught a glimpse of something below them, silver hair. Long silver hair reflected off the moonlight... At first it'd been InuYasha to her eyes. Her heart had skipped a beat. Then her eyes took in the real being: Sesshomaru. There were no dog ears planted upon the head as her eyes had lied to her, just a head of long, beautiful silver hair. Now that she thought about it she'd always admired InuYasha's hair...

When they landed next to a fire she noticed she'd been lost in thought, she'd only seen Sesshomaru for milliseconds, and he'd been so far off. There wasn't even point of seeking his help against Naraku. Not now, maybe not ever. Sesshomaru didn't know that InuYasha was dead, he didn't know all but one of his brother's commerads had fallen dead. And he probably wouldn't and didn't give a shit. He was too heartless to even give his brother, his so called enemy, a second thought. He'd probably would laugh when he heard it or just shrug it off and search for Tetsusiaga. He wouldn't "lower" himself to help her and a "lower yokai," not even for his bloodline as far as she knew. Sesshomaru wouldn't seek revenge for InuYasha, only for himself and his commerads. Now she knew this fight was hopeless. Only she, Koga, Ginta, Hakku, and Kikyo left.

But come to think of it Kikyo had probably retreated to hell when she'd heard the news of her old love's death, fight for his love in the next life. So she was counted out now. Now there was four against a million. Three demons and a crushed yokai slayer. Yokai and yokai slayer working on a hopeless quest for vengance. There was no hope in her mind, no undying flame that had once remained in her mind, soul, and heart. Everything just seemed dark even as she stared into the dancing flames of the fire, half aware that Koga had left and one of the others was tending to her broken arm while she thrived in her mind.

She rubbed the back of her neck with her hand.She knew there had to be a way to defeat him, even without the others, there just had to be a way. It couldn't end like this. Kagome said there was no Naraku in her time, not even a trace of his existence. That meant he was to die in this time, not the years to come, for there was no way that this was fate. For her friends to die and for Naraku to live...

"Girl, what's wrong with Koga?"

The voice was filled with confusion, a confusion which she didn't wish to settle, and in which she didn't wish to answer.

"Girl, answer me." He sounded more demanding than confused now, but still she didn't answer.

"Girl!"

"I have a name." she muttered, hugging her knees with an unbroken arm, "It's Sango."

"I don't care," this time it was another voice which was too filled with confusion and demand, "We want to know what's wrong with Koga."

"... Ask him... I can't tell you-"

"Is it something to do with that Kagome girl?"

Sango paused for a moment, surprised that they were actually figuring it out, and turned her gaze towards them. Then sullenly, she nodded.

"Dammit." muttered the one with the mohak, glancing at the other and shaking his head, "Sometimes I hate that girl. He's so damn obsessed with her."

"Let me guess," the other one butted in, "She turned him down, _again._"

Sango returned her gaze to the fire, watching the dancing flames in a hypnotic state, wiping her nose with the back of her dirty fist. She really didn't want to cry here, not in front of people she didn't know. Yet against her will the tears seemed to flow up to her eyes at any thought of them.

"No..." her voice was small, a mutter, "She's... dead."

They too seemed to take it as a blow. A blow of guilt and saddness maybe. They both knew the reincarnated miko meant alot to their friend, and they knew he wasn't going to take this easy. Now they felt horrible about the past conversation they'd had about her. If only they hadn't been such jerks... Of all times. That's why he'd gone off in such a hurry, he was hurt, confused.

"...They're all dead," she was crying now, "By Naraku's hand..."

---

Koga had returned to camp in the dead of night to find both his commerads asleep and the fire low, welcomed by the scent of tears. He knew who it was, he could see her face illuminated by the dying fire. Her knees were drawn up to her chest, a bandaged and broken arm resting on them while the spare hand remained entangled in her bangs. With eyes closed the tears left sparkling trails down her pale face, her body shaking ever so slightly. She reeked of sadness and a broken spirit, layered in the salt of tears and the stench of dirt, sweat, and blood. Koga couldn't stand the sight truthfully, he had never really liked seeing anyone hurt like this, especially women.

He made his way over to her quietly, his feet making no sound on the ground as he stepped across the threshold of the dark camp. She didn't look at him even as he sat next to her, only bending her head lower. She seemed so lost and he couldn't bear to see her this way. He couldn't bear seeing her expressing the sadness that he too held inside. Leaning back against the tree behind both of them, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder in a comforting way, half expecting her to pull away. But to his suprise she curled into his arm at his touch, shaking slightly under her tears. But all he could find himself to do was hold her just a little bit closer, let her cry, and let her eventually drift into an uneasy sleep she would find in the darkness of the night.

Yet the seconds turned to minutes, the minutes to hours, the hours following the darkening sky slowly as she found no sleep. Her scent reached Koga's sensitive nose, a scent coated in fear, blood, stress, and tears, and after a while he found it hard to stand. But even he would not dare ask her to move for such reasons, it was too cold-hearted... too rude, especially at a time like so. Hours seemed to pass like decades he soon found, and yet the girl still found nothing of the concept of sleep. She had stopped crying, but she wouldn't sleep. Finding himself trying to occupy his mind, the sound of water found its way to his yokai ears. Oh what the hell... she wouldn't go to sleep anyway...

* * *

"Take a bath," Sesshomaru ordered, "both of you." 

Rin folded her arms across her chest in a defiant manner, "But I don't want to, Sesshomaru-sama."

"Bathe." The statement was the end of the discussion.

Accepting defeat with a pouting face she stood and walked over to Kagome, watching her stand as well. Bathing was the one thing Rin didn't really like to do, the only thing she'd ever "fuss" about, but her battles were always lost. Yet still, she would obey her Sesshomaru-sama until the very end, or at least the last moment she traveled with him.

Walking away with a last glance at Sesshomaru as he sat down to wait, she followed Kagome obediently, only a few steps behind her. Somehow she found that the miko knew exactly where the water was without exchanging a word to Sesshomaru-sama, and yet the sound of the river wasn't yet at her ears. Minutes passed as they walked through the twisted forest, giving Rin time to gaze out blankly into space at her own liking, following the miko with half a mind. Soon the young one found herself in the not-so-cold water though, floating only a stride's length away from Kagome.

The water hid both their nudities, and Rin watched the young woman submerge herself under the water, springing back up only for the need to fill her lungs with oxygen. Her hair now dripped with water, stringy and spread out in large strands, droplets clinging to her fair skin and shoulders. Rin suddenly found that Kagome resembled her mother oh so fleetingly... the thought made her smile. She missed her mother, and she was sure Kagome was missing her friends too. There was something they had in common after all. At first there had been nothing, only a sad miko lady. But now, Rin could see that Kagome was only so distant because of her sorrow, the conclusion slow as goes the child mind.

"Kagome-san, would you tell Rin now why you are sad? Is it because your friends are missing?" the fact of their death's evading the young one's mind since she had been called away when the graves had been found, her voice carrying across the water to a taken aback miko.

Kagome gave a distant look to the shadows, "Yes..."

"Don't worry," Rin smiled, "I know we'll find them, anything can happen when you're with Sesshomaru-sama."

The shadows seemed to darken, "No, we won't find them... those graves you found were theirs, Rin..." then she began to remember... what she hadn't told him...

Kagome suddenly submerged underwater completely, trying to close herself off from the world. She didn't want to remember. She never did, yet she knew it would be inevitable soon enough. All she could see now was sorrow anyways, how could this realization help her? It would only make her lose her mind.

_I'd rather lose my mind than my friends..._

Then the sensation burned her lungs. Oxygen. She tried to ignore it and stay floating in the water, her hair swirling around her body in dancing swirls, silence killing the outside world. Her head hurt. Her lungs ached.

_I'd rather... lose... my... mind..._

Her head began to scream at her, her eyes shut tight in pain. She needed air. She had to emerge. Her hands clawed at her hair. She didn't want to emerge, but she didn't want to drown. Involuntary movement caused her feet to kick off of the dirt floor, her head emerging from the dark water. Her lungs began to give way as she did, but suddenly grasped the fresh air in greed, the muscles tensing and aching. But even as she panted and gasped for air, the feelings had returned. In all this sorrow she had forgotten. She had forgotten the confusion before the sorrow, the two sides of her mental state tearing and clawing at the other, she'd even forgotten when she had seen him the last time.

From just standing there, even in the realization, she could see Rin's quizzical and "are-you-alright" look. She really didn't want her to look... not now. She just wanted to be alone.

"Let's go Kagome-san."

* * *

Fortunately, a bath was exactly what she had wanted. It had seemed to calm her for a minute or two, letting her relax. Relaxation, the one thing she would soon yearn for when it was no longer able to reach... 

_Be thankful for what you have now, Sango, _she told herself half heartedly, staring off into the starry night above.

The demon slayer sank farther into the water, submerging her torso almost completely, the ends of her hair swirling around her shoulders in the clear water of the river. She realized she was nervous, on her guard, out of sheer habit. In the past, there had been a monk that would follow her every movement with his eyes... his greedy little eyes. But now there was only Koga, who was a ways off, only close enough to come to her aid if trouble should arise. Was she actually missing having to be on her guard for the eyes of a pervert?

She moved deeper, submerging her neck, her chin making ripples on the already disturbed water. A rustle in the bushes echoed through the still night. Sango jumped and span at the noise, the water still hiding her body's full nudity.

"Sango, I think we should be heading back now."

It was just Koga. Just... Koga.

She nodded, watching him slink back into the darkness as she made her way out, her body dripping with small droplets as they slid down her pale skin. While pulling her clothes on she was lost in thought, unaware of her surroundings, until Koga walked out into the open. She resisted none when he came over to her and picked her up gently, jumping up into the air on his way back to camp. The night was dark, her mind was tired, so slowly she fell into the dark abyss that was a dreamless sleep. She lay undisturbed even as they hit a rough landing, as she was lowered to the ground, as she was wrapped comfortingly in Koga's arms. She was out. She wanted to stay that way.

--

Morning came as the sun escaped the imprisonment of the distant mountains, gracing the small group with rays of warm sunlight, awakening Koga from his light slumber. Sango, on the other hand, lay motionless in a world of sleep. The wolf yokai moved none as to not disturbed the resting woman, but quietly observed his surroundings. Ginta and Hakku were awake, gazing off into space in their respective idiotic ways.

"C'mon you two, let's get moving." Koga whispered ever so gently, getting to his feet in one graceful movement with Sango undisturbed in his arms.

As the other two snapped back into reality and nodded Koga leaped into the air without a sound, the sun rising just above the mountains and setting a golden glow on the demon and slayer, the two both lost in their own dreams and thoughts. That was when the wind of the demon that once was blew past his nose, carrying the scent of a woman held so dear to both their hearts.

And that was when, far below, the wind of the demon that once was swept past the nose of a taiyokai, carrying the scent of two that he knew was held close to the heart of a woman near.

Now the demon knew, they knew everything was being set into place whether they liked it or not.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the short chapter! More to come soon. And if you figured it out, this is Kagura's last chapter.**


	6. This Sesshomaru cares secretly

**A.N. -- Oh thank you all for the reviews on the last chapter! (And I'm sooo sorry if that last part confused anyone, I had to explain it to some!) Um... Yet again, e-mails with ideas or private comments are welcome and wanted! (iwilleatchocolate _at_ gmail _dot _com) This first part starts off with Sesshomaru after Rin and Kagome leave to bathe.**

* * *

He brushed his hair back behind him in a way that you would usually see modern day Tokyo girls doing, closing his eyes as he did. This Sesshomaru thought he was getting soft... in his youth. And it was all that girls fault. Yet he couldn't find himself to blame her. He didn't know why he couldn't hate her just as he hated every other mortal. This child, Rin, had changed his life and he knew it, but denied it. Not just a year ago he would have left the miko lying in the snow without a second thought. But that was a year ago. Now he actually gave it a second thought. And all because he took in a small orphan girl that had tried to help him when he became "vulnerable" after his late half-brother's full blown Kaze No Kizu attack. Now... he half thought he was becoming _grateful _for being entrusted with Tensiega, not Tetsusaiga. 

_Am I going soft in my **youth**?_

He knew no other way of thinking of it. He'd save a good few number of lives, women lives, where in the past he would have brushed them off, pregnant or not...

_Pregnant... does she even know...  
_

Then his thoughts traveled back into oblivion.

--

The girls traveled back into camp, Rin looking up at the other with concern. The other, Kagome, looked distressed and confused, clutching the flat of her stomach in dismay. Both sat down a ways away form one another without a word, only cast off looks. Sesshomaru could care less. His lingering thought had been answered, so he pay no attention to the other two nor Jaken. He just sat up against the tree with his eyes closed and composure calm. Just like he always did as he enclosed his true self behind the iron bars of his mind...

_Kagome-san, what is wrong? _

That question lingered in Rin's mind, but she was too timid to actually ask. Kagome looked sick to her, and she half wondered if the girl was coming down with something from being so sad. Rin wanted to help, but Kagome didn't want help from anybody. She just wanted to keep quiet and curse herself. How could have she been so stupid? How could she have been so thoughtless? She had seen him for the last time and she had forgotten. She had forgotten to tell him that she was pregnant with his child.

- # - # - # - # -

_She leaned against the bathroom door, counting down the seconds, eyes shut tight as if the world was about to end. The questions were flying through her mind at incredible speeds, demanding answers that she could not possibly give, screaming and whispering in her ears without end. The nausea would not cease as she clutched her hands to her stomach, holding back anything that would travel through her mouth for the second time. The seconds were getting smaller and smaller, closer to their goal... Kagome opened her eyes. She stared at the thing on the sink rim, wondering whether to run while she still could or face the truth, good or bad. But was this truth even possible to be "bad?" Life was a good thing, was it not?_

_Taking in her breath she inched forward, both hands and arms now pressed against her chest, almost glued there. She found that she reached the sink oh to soon._

Pink, _she thought, _means I am. Blue means I'm not...

_She forced herself to pull her gaze from her reflection, slowly lowering her head to look at the little device that held so much truth. The truth that could turn any young girl's life around and upside down._

...**_Pink_**

_She shut down just then, her brother banging on the door asking why she was taking such a long time, declaring she was not the only one in this house hold whom shared the need to use the toilets.  
_

_- # - # - # - # -_

Koga nearly immediately turned his course to follow the scent, but then the wind died. He cursed aloud, sending shock to his comrades behind him. Yet the stubborn wolf yokai took off in the way the scent had come from, eyes narrowed in determination. The ground came alarmingly fast, Koga skidding as his heels dug into the ground. Ginta and Hakku landed behind him in a much more graceful manner, declaring they wished to know what the sudden cause of direction change was. Koga just plain out ignored them. He began to run where the smallest, almost undetectable, trails of her scent lay, following a straight forward path. The strait forward path that Kagome had traveled the opposite way on not days earlier, but the wolf yokai was too stubborn to notice the difference in direction.

But the seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned to hours and there was no sight of her as the scent died away, and when all hope died away in Koga, Sango awoke.

"Koga..." she muttered, "What... what's happening?"

Her words only half penetrated his stone ears, and he muttered a "yes" in reply, not really stringing her words together. Her response was a look of confusion.

"Koga!"

The yokai snapped back into reality, "What?"

"What's happening?"

"...Nothing." Somehow he found he couldn't tell her.

* * *

Later in the day Kagome found her way out of confusion by talking to the young one and humoring her questions. Rin enjoyed it and Kagome was glad it actually pulled her from her own thoughts. 

"Kagome-chan," Rin spoke, now dropping the respectful '-san' to the friendship '-chan', "Where do you come from?"

"A ways away, Rin. Somewhere I am sure no one you know has been." Kagome said, trying her best to conceal her little secret from the taiyokai nearby.

"I bet Sesshomaru-sama has been there!" Rin said in excitment, unaware that there were limits to her lord's travels.

"... I'd be surprised if he had." Kagome said with a thoughtful look.

This slightly interested Sesshomaru. She thought there was a place he knew nothing about? He was pretty sure she couldn't hide from him. But little did he know, he was wrong for the first time in his long life. There was a place, even if he had walked across it before, he would never _be _there. That was only possible if he traveled five hundred years in the future, which even this Sesshomaru could not do without waiting five hundred years to get there. But yet he brushed the thought aside and continued to walk, thinking the young girl was just naive when it came to his travels.

"Kagome-chan? Do you have a Mother and Father?"

"Yes, a Mother. My Father left us long ago." Kagome answered, "I have a brother too, and a grandfather that lives with us."

"Rin has no parents anymore. Her parents were killed. Killed in front of Rin's eyes." She replied with a half smile, "Rin lived alone in a village for a long time, but then she met Sesshomaru-sama and Jaken-sama!"

_And yet she still finds a reason to smile... will I be able to? Is this why I envy this young one's spirit?_

"I'm so sorry," Kagome said, getting away from her thoughts, "I never thought--"

"Do not worry Kagome-chan! Rin is fine..." She paused, then let her sentence fade away into nothingness for a moment, "...She is fine because she is happier than she has ever been!"

The radiant smile that now graced Rin's lips would have made anyone smile, or giggle, or laugh. And in the past it would have done to Kagome what it has done to so many others of the young child's past, but now, it couldn't.

_Rin, that is why I envy you so..._

* * *

Koga fell mute the rest of the day, not wanting to believe that he had actually found her scent, then lost it. Was he just plain stupid or had the scent been a mere fragment of his imagination? Whether it was or not, he was determined to follow his heart until she was next to him once more. He had been so determined in fact, he had fallen deadly ignorant of the world around him. Sango's questions were ignored, just as Ginta and Hakku were, and the trio began to worry about their wolf friend. The remaining two down-to-earth yokai had not been fortunate enough to catch the miko's scent, so were left in the dark about Koga's actions, while Sango was left completely in the dark with out a candle, without the smallest flicker of light. She was actually worrying it was something she had done. 

The demon slayer was panicking that it was her actions that had caused her fellow yokai's stone ears. Had she done something wrong? Or had she offended him? The questions lingered in her mind and stayed there unmoving, haunting her. She was dying to ask him of his problems, but yet she couldn't bring herself to do it after being ignored over and over. So she remained blind to the situation just as the other yokai were, wondering what she had done wrong.

--

While the sun rose high in the sky Koga noticed the dark, looming clouds over the far mountains, the scent of yokai that lingered near and around them not evading his sharp nose. Those clouds served as hiding spots for Naraku's yokai, hiding spots for the demons who could easily ambush those who couldn't sense their presence. The winds were picking up, dead sign that Naraku was planning for some type of move forward into other's territory. The winds brought many confusing scents to the three yokai, but they were used to this, so it affected them little, only irritating their noses.

Sango too gazed at the towering clouds, walking alongside Koga. Her mind was filled with the urge to avenge her family and friends, as well as the impossible idea of saving Kohaku... or what was left of Kohaku. It was true that he was seemingly regaining his memories one by one, piece by piece, but yet it was still just the shell of Kohaku that Naraku only used in order to screw with Sango's mental health.

_InuYasha was smart that way, _she thought distantly, _he could always see through Naraku's head games most of the time. Yet even so, he was determined to help me in saving Kohaku even when he knew that we were both aware it was nearly impossible to do so if we wanted to complete the jewel. I guess that was his way to show us he did care about us, he just helped when he was needed, even if it was dumb to his mind..._

The slayer sighed as she lost herself in the past, half seeing the world around her as she followed behind Koga almost involuntarily. She missed them all so much, she knew that, and was now just beginning to heal.

But unfortunately, the same could not be said for whom she considered a sister.

* * *

Kagome sighed her deadly sigh, the sun blazing down upon her. Rin may be able to talk ninety-nine miles an hour, but most of it was nonsense. With half an hear the little one's way, the miko looked off into the distance. 

Those clouds sure were huge.

Sesshomaru noticed them as well, and glared at the scent of the demons. Naraku's demons. He didn't want to waste his energy on them, he wanted to fight him, to destroy him and teach him the lesson that he was the only one that controlled the decision of murder amongst his family. Him and only him. Yet the man remained cool, and kept his thoughts to himself. But soon those thoughts drifted to the miko behind him, listening to Rin's undying blabber. The young woman was pregnant with his half-brothers child, and probably didn't know it. (Yet, once again, he was wrong about this.) Even if this child was not even a half yokai, Sesshomaru somehow felt the need to protect the child, he felt it his duty and he didn't know why. This baby would be another disgrace to his family name and yet another reminder of how he was unable to kill Naraku before his brother was murdered. Yet another reminder of his few failures. Not something he needed right now. And then there was another problem. The child's Mother. Right now she was an emotional wreck with no current view of healing, and even if it was a while off until this child was born, it would probably be a while off until Kagome healed.

And, on top of that, what would her reaction be to finding out?

But Sesshomaru had learned it was better not to avoid the inevitable, and silently decided to confront her in a time that seemed oh to soon.

--

Everyone sat beneath a tree, the shade over them, with the exception of Rin and Jaken. Those two were out in the meadow in front of the tree both miko and taiyokai sat under, Rin running around with deaf ears towards Jaken's annoying yells. Kagome was gazing upon them lazily, lost in her mind while Sesshomaru gazed upwards, lost in his head.

Then his voice sliced through the silence between them, but he bothered not to look at Kagome.

"Miko, are you aware of what is happening to you?"

All he got in return was a blank stare from the miko in question, who hadn't understood the question in the way he did.

"Are you aware that you are pregnant?" This time his eyes were upon her.

"Oh." She turned her gaze away from him as she hugged her stomach, "Yeah, I am."

Silence lingered between the two uneasily.

"I'm worried," She said quietly, "that Naraku will kill him too..."

Sesshomaru turned his gaze away as well, closing his eyes, "No, he won't. This Sesshomaru will not allow it."

* * *

**A.N. Soooooo? How'd you like it? REVIEW!!!! o.O**


	7. Short Skirts and Long Shirts

**A.N. (sigh) I feel bad about how short these chapters are... but I'm still trying to figure out how to add on to those perfect drop-off moments and then find even better ones. It's proving to be a challenge though. Well, for a note, the first authors note is written first, days before the chapter is posted because I work on two chapters at a time. It's not as confusing as it sounds though. So, let's see how I do! And of course, I love my readers.**

* * *

Kagome felt strange now that she knew that her little secret wasn't really a secret anymore. Somehow, knowing that someone else knew only elevated her fears for both herself and her child. It was obvious that Sesshomaru only knew because of his sharp nose, pregnancy had to at least change your scent oh so slightly. And for him, the slightest change did not go undetected. But, would that mean when she had to face the day where she found Naraku, would he know as well? Technically, Naraku was hanyo, not yokai as Sesshomaru, and her last... "meeting" with a hanyo had produced not a flicker of notice. But then again, Naraku was Naraku. He was the one always to pull the unexpected twists and turns, surprise you at any moment. And by the time the group could find him, Onigumo, the human of which gave his body and soul to unwillingly created a demon like Naraku, could be long gone. 

Maybe that was what she feared the most, Naraku. Was it because he'd torn her soul in so many different ways in was near a point of no return? Or was it because she knew that all of her friends were murdered without mercy, left in the forest to die a slow and painful death? Was it because her past love had been ripped into shreds even after his death, the only whole part left of him probably being the arm that now rest connected to his elder brother's shoulder? But maybe, just maybe, it was because she actually held a true fear of him unlike before. Before, Naraku had been an enemy with slim to no weaknesses, someone to be afraid of only if he had actually gotten the chance to screw with your head. Of course, he had screwed with her head and with her friends', but there had been no real reason to hold an undeniable _fear _of himYes, if you were ever face to face with the monstrosity, you would indeed feel the adrenaline running through your veins, but not fear. Fear of Naraku was the fear of death, not pain, not injuries, but unmistakable death. And she had never felt that before. All she had wanted was to kill him and move on with her life in her own time, the full reality that she could actually die had never hit full on. That thought, well... was never thought.

But now it was.

Those clouds, off in the distance, were what made her think. It made her realize that he was near. The person that had killed her friends and destroyed her life was almost at her doorstep, about to knock. She thought she was ready for him, but in truth, she wasn't really. The taiyokai that walked not feet in front of her knew it, the small mutant yokai knew it, even Rin knew it. Kagome was too much of an emotional wreck to actually come face to face with Naraku at the moment, she needed time to heal, she needed time to come to earth.

--

Sesshomaru led the group as he always did, walking not two feet in front of his comrades, thinking. Those cloud covered mountains lay directly in front of his vision, irritating his nose at the scent of Naraku's demons...

_Not long can you hide from me Naraku, for this Sesshomaru will not allow you to escape once again._

* * *

Naraku leaned back against the wall, his black hair falling in silky strands down his chest. His lips were in a small smirk, a plan unveiling in his mind after all this time. Now InuYasha, Sango, and Miroku were out of the way, not to mention the kitsune and Kirara. The only ones left were the three wolf yokai, Sesshomaru, and Kagome, whom to his eyes weren't much of a threat. The only one he gave half a thought to was Sesshomaru of the West, whom now weilded Tetsusaiga with the arm of his half brother. The yokai could produce a threat over time, hell, he already was. But that was the last of Naraku's worries, right now, he had other matters to deal with. 

"Naraku," a voice rang out from behind the door of the room, "She is here."

"Let her in." Naraku replied, his voice cold.

The door slid open slowly, a woman clothed in white and red slowly walking over the threshold of the doorway, her eyes half closed. They were blank, the brown color dark and lifeless. Sadness and determination were written deep within them, the feeling radiating off her scent and reaching Naraku's keen senses. The sadness bothered him none, he actally liked it. But then again, anything dark was to his liking. Almost like a goth you'd see in modern days, he loved the darkness and other's pain. He thrived for it.

"Why did you wish to see me, Naraku?" her voice was cold just as his, her black bangs hiding her eyes.

"I would think you could figure it out on your own, hmm?" his voice was mocking, his gaze not even her way.

Her response was in silence, so he continued after a small pause, his voice all the darker,

"Kikyo," his lips curled into a thin smirk, "Kagome killed InuYasha."

* * *

Koga stared off into the sky, Sango walking alongside him once again. Ginta and Hakku were lagging behind as they always did, staring off into space in stupidity. The clouds were closer than they were before, and each demon became more irritated than ever with every waking moment. Well, at least when they were paying attention. 

Sango glanced over at Koga, mouth open and about to speak, but then she turned away from him yet again. Not once in two days had he spoken, and Sango was begginning to worry. Still haunted by the thought she had done something wrong, all throught the day she'd been trying to speak to him, but always chickened out at the last second. He hadn't noticed her attempts either, so the whole thing was nearly pointless. But we all know Sango, if she wants to do something she'll do it... _eventually. _

So she turned her head back his way, and spoke softly, "Koga... what is wrong?"

He didn't answer right away, but rather turned her words over in his head, trying to make up a believable excuse. But when push came to shove, he couldn't find one. So instead, he went with something you would hear your teenager say after a day of school,

"Nothing."

--

Later on in the day, he was talking, but his vocabulary was very limited. "Yes," "no," "whatever," "nothing," "go ahead," "uh-huh," that was all you could get out of him. So, after hours of pestering from our respective idiots, the whole group found themselves silent. But yet again, just as she used to, Sango pressed her questions harder. Except, this time, she was withdrawn when she spoke, only audible to his ears, speaking in something of a pleading voice.

"Please Koga, I've never seen you this way... What's wrong? If it's about... Kagome... I know what you're feeling..."

Koga remained silent once more, but spoke this time in a quiet whisper,

"Sango... it's nothing. Please," he looked her way and smiled with half a heart, "don't worry about me."

But yet, even with this false -- but belivable -- reassuring statement, Sango felt that feeling of worry sneak up into her mind once more, unable to belive him. This feeling stayed with her until the end of the day, where they all sat around the fire as she snuggled close up to Koga in that reassuring state, and it just wouldn't go away. No matter what she willed, no matter what she wished. All she could do was stay warm next to him and lose herself in memories, without the faintest idea that Kagome had been only a few miles away not long ago and Koga hadn't been able to track her down.

--

Koga awoke from a light slumber the next morning in the darkness, yet something in his mind was telling him something wasn't right. He looked up at the sky in curiousity, a revolting scent lingering in his nose. And no doubt, the clouds that had reeked of yokai were above him, telling him one thing. Naraku was near. Too near, too soon. It was the truth that none of them were ready, but it was also truth that they would probably never be ready.

"Koga..." he jumped slightly, previously unaware that Sango had actually been awake as she lay in his arms, "Naraku is near... isn't he?"

He nodded solemnly in request, "We should get going, now."

In response to him Sango got to her feet, plugging her ears for what was about to take place.

**"GINTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAKKU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"** Koga bellowed, annoyed that yelling this loud was the only was these two knuckleheads would get up from their deep, _deep _slumbers.

The two reponded as violently as they usually did, getting to their feet and emmiting soft yells.

"Time to go."

--

The scents of the millions of demons lurking around were screwing with the yokai's noses by the middle of the day, making it hard to distinguish one scent from another unless you were standing right next to someone. But the three got through the day, that was until a little mishap when they were starting to get hungry. With all the demons lurking about most of the animals had run off, so in truth, the group was shit out of luck. There was no game large or small roaming the woods, only the occassional insect or spider. And along with that the only river nearby was a while off and for some unlucky reason, Sango's arm began to irritate her and soon it was gushing blood. Just their day.

"Ginta, Hakku," Koga ordered from his spot next to Sango as he applyed pressure to her no bleeding arm, "Go to the river and get some fish, and one of you, follow the river to the closest village and get some bandages or herbs or something. And hurry about it. This is only getting worse."

And that was the truth. But now Koga's hand was coated in Sango's blood and her skin was beginning to turn pale. Not a sickly pale, a deathly pale. This bleeding was flowing as fast as a river, and had been like that nonstop for a good ten minutes now. But what was weird about it was how quickly it had came. They were beginning to think Sango could begin to retrain her arm with her weapons soon, but that was being proved wrong oh to well.

* * *

Kagome turned on Sesshomaru with sudden distaste, "Well!!?" 

With the moon gazing down upon him, Sesshomaru didn't look away from her, only continued to stare. Her scent was filled with anger and confusion, and he was unsure why. Not a moment ago had she been sleeping soundly without a disturbance, what had happened? She began to scream a line of words his way, letting out all her anger in a quick motion, while he payed little attention. He was not going to give her the satisfaction of being acknowledged, but he was going to allow her to finally let out all of her pain. All of these thoughts she'd been running over in her head. She could blame him for whatever she wanted as far as he was concerned, he really didn't give a care in the world. But then she burst out something he never thought he'd hear.

"Dammit Sesshomaru! I _know _you! And I know that you are not stupid!" out of pure amusment and curiousity Sesshomaru turned his gaze to the miko, "There is _no way_ that you haven't caught Sango scent yet! When InuYasha was alive -- dammit, you'd sense him from a few god damn miles away and come to kick his ass in an instant!!! There is just, just... just no way... why don't you just tell me where she is!? Take me to her?! I find her and I'm out of your hair, you won't have to deal with -- with this _pathetic miko_! I'll be gone and you can return to the life without InuYasha and his companions... forever..."

Swiftly as the anger had came, it left with her last words of outrage, leaving behind the tears that burned trails down her cheeks.

"Miko... Kagome," Sesshomaru said, his full attention towards her with the useage of her name, "There is a hot spring not far from here, I can hear the water. I want you to go there and calm down. I'm not sure what brought this upon you but I do know it had to be said. Now go. Go down the path we traveled today until you hear the sound of water. From there you know what to do. If you don't return in an hour I'm coming after you."

Silence passed slowly without any movement from her, but slowly she began to obey his commmands. And just as she turned to leave, he spoke once more.

"Kagome, you will not be leaving my group any time soon, whether we find your friend or not," he turned his gaze away from her and closed his eyes, "You are carring _my _neice or nephew, my hanyo brother's daugter or son. And as long as that baby is alive you will remain under my protection, and you cannot and _will not_ have a say in that matter."

--

Sesshomaru walked down the path with an annoyed appearance, going after Kagome. Just as he had said, after an hour he was going to get her, but he wasn't quite happy about it. Yet he still went after her, being true to his previous words. But what he didn't know was what his words had actually done to her.

His word had such a likeliness to what InuYasha had said long ago that it had caused her subconscious to rerun the memories of what had happened the first time she had met Sesshomaru, sending her into the greiving state she had been able to free herself of the last few days. And as she waded in the water, sitting on a rock that was submerged, remembering all these things not only caused her to grieve, but also brought along the feeling of tiredness. And in becoming tired, she drifted off to sleep while still in the water, her head lolling on its side. And that was how Sesshomaru had found her, asleep.

In truth, he wasn't very thrilled about having to fish her out, but in the end he did, the cold air forming goosebumps on her nude form. Not allowing his eyes to linger on her body, he lay her on the ground gently as he scanned the area for her clothes. Finding them, he walked where they lay neatly on the ground, folded and stacked on top of one another. Kneeling down to pick up the first folded garment (the shirt), he stood, leting the clothing unfold in front of his eyes as he held it by the sleeve in his index finger and thumb. He gave it a curious look. He had never seen anything of it's type before. It was like a kimono shirt... without an opening in the front. He gazed down at the rest of her clothing, raising his eyebrow at the next item he saw.

It was pink and quite small. He had no idea what it was, and could not fathom how she put it on, what it was for, and why she even wore it. To his eyes, it looked like to peices of circular fabric held together by more thinner and slimmer fabric. The garment below it looked like... well... something. This one was white, small just as the other, and probably fit around her lower section. His guess as why she wore it was just as clueless as the others. So, deciding he better not try redressing her in her own clothes, he sighed and closed his eyes.

His fingers began to untie his yellow and purple obi (belt), his eyes closed throughout his "undressing." Once the obi fell to the ground in a silky pool, the opening of his shirt came undone, revealing a well toned chest and set of abs. He slid his left arm out first, allowing the shirt to then slide down his left shoulder into what was once his half brother's hand. From a near sight or far sight you could see the skin difference between the shoulder and arm, for InuYasha's skin had been much darker and rougher than his half brother's pale and fair skin. By now the color was beginning to blend with his own skin color, but it would never be exactly the same as was the way it usually went.

With his shirt and obi removed, Sesshomaru went over to Kagome's nude body, looking at nothing but her face. With some difficulty he managed to get her in his shirt, tie the obi around her waist, and balance her against his chest. Because of their size differences his shirt actually fit quite well on her, the ends of the sleeves only a bit past her fingertips and the end of the shirt covering as much as her skirt would regullarly cover. Content with how it fit, Sesshomaru "gently" threw her over his shoulder, her clothes in his other hand as he walked away from the water.

* * *

Luckily enough Hakku had retrieved plenty of bandages with a simple threat that day, but the unpleasent part was that the hunt for fish had been a failed attempt. At the least Sango's bleeding had receded, but they were nervous about it starting again. She still hadn't woken from her coma like slumber after hours and hours of recovering, and each demon was becoming more and more nervous. They had all seemed to take a liking to her in since her recent arrival, and they all wanted to protect her at any cost. And with this happening, you couldn't say that you would want to mess with them... 

"I'm gonna go get some food, I'm hungry." Hakku announced, beginning to walk out of camp, "Anyone else that's hungry -- get your own food."

In response to that Ginta came up and bonked Hakku on the back of the head, but followed with him to get food anyways. And as they dissapeared into the darkness of the surrounding forest, Koga shifted in his seat next to the demon slayer. He wasn't hungry and he wasn't about to leave her, not like this.

_Please Sango, wake up soon..._

_--_

Ginta and Hakku were surprised to find that they were actually lucky tonight with the catching of fish, even if they were soaking wet. And as they both dried of on the shore of the river they chatted idly, trying to forget the despair of Sango's predicament if only for a moment. And with the clouds above them making the scents of others confusing, they didn't know that someone was near, someone they should run to at top speed._  
_

* * *

When Kagome awoke, she awoke confused, thinking she had only closed her eyes for a second. But instead she was out of the water and dressed in something unfimiliar, leaned up against the trees in a darkness. She blinked a couple times, looking up at the sky. Those clouds were there and her miko senses were telling her the surrounding area was crawling with yokai. Trying to shrug it off, she blinked again, then looked at her comerads. Rin was sleeping, Jaken was missing, and Sesshomaru was staring off into space... topless. 

She felt her mind do a little jump in shock. Why was he topless...? Then she looked down.

_ I'm... wearing his shirt!?!?! What the-_

"Last night," he began, as if answering the question she hadn't even spoken, "you fell asleep in the springs, miko. I had no other choice but to fish you out of the water and dress you. The... _easiest _way to accomplish that task was to lend you my shirt and obi for the night. And if you would not mind, I would like them back."

Kagome knew, without a doubt, that her face was probably the color of a rose by now because of that last sentence, and she thanked the gods he wasn't looking at her right now. So, she grabbed her clothes that she found lying beside her and stood up with haste, quickly dissapearing into the near forest. She changed as quickly as she could, making sure she didn't dirty his shirt or obi in the process. When she reappeared from the forest she went over to the yokai lord somewhat hesitantly, handing him his clothes, now folded. He stood when she came to him, taking the clothes without a word, holding them in one hand while they unravled in front of him. He put on his shirt casually, closing it, then tying it with the obi in almost a hypnotic state, staring off into space. Kagome hadn't lingered to watch him dress, only returned to her seat. But almost seconds after she had sat, Sesshomaru spoke,

"Wake Rin, we are leaving."

So with a sigh, she stood, quickly going over to Rin and bending down to shake her shoulders. The young one awoke surprisingly fast, unlike Kagome had done at that age. Back then, she'd growl or whine at whomever was unlucky enough to try to get her up, then throw a fit and bury herself under the covers in one fluid motion. Rin also stood up almost automatically, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she chased after Sesshomaru, whom was already walking away from the site. Kagome too chased after him, in no rush to be left behind. Today she actually felt like she could try and return to her normal self, but that would all be thrown out of wack in not a few hours.

And of course, those few hours later, she was totally unaware. She was walking under the cloudy sky, talking to the hyperactive Rin at this point, not really paying attention to anything else but the young child. But Sesshomaru was the one that noticed the two yokai nearby, smelling of wolf and fish, niether posing a real threat to any of them. So at that point he shrugged it off, not wanting any more trouble than what couldn't be avoided. Yet those two demons noticed him as well, but instead of chasing after him blindly like most yokai would, they just tried to spot him out between the trees. Even with the clouds above screwing with their senses, Sesshomaru's scent and aura were to powerful to miss, and to formidable to ignore. When they actually did spot him through the trees and he spotted them, they were frightened by the snarl they got, and almost ran out of their resting area. But then they saw something through the trees as the opposing yokai walked away.

No one else would have... a skirt that incredibly short...

And Kagome had no idea they were watching her, frozen in shock and confusion, just a couple strides away from her. So she continued to walk, not once even glancing at them, unaware of their prescence. But the yokai, as idiotic as they were sometimes, did something that could have been classified as couragious or smart, but running strait into Sesshomaru's group and scaring the crap out of poor little Rin wasn't actually that smart after all. Luckily, Rin hadn't screamed or anything, just jumped and fell backwards onto Kagome's legs. When they had jumped right in front of the young one they had caught Kagome off gaurd as well, so she didn't really register who they were right away.

But when she did she found that she was unable to speak after their sudden entrance, and she found that they couldn't speak out of pure shock.

"Are you asking to die?" Sesshomaru's cold voice rang through the silence with a peircing force, and the fear on the wolf yokai's faces was obvious.

But somehow they managed to keep in their places, and miraculously Ginta learned how to speak,

"Ka... Kagome...?"

* * *

**A.N. yay! Its finished! Over 4000 words... I hope that's long enough! REVIEW PLEASE! (Happy late Easter!)  
**


	8. Meetings

Kagome felt confused just by the slightest bit. They were looking at her as if they had seen a ghost... And that would mean that Koga had found out about InuYasha's death and assumed she was dead as well. But who else knew but Sesshomaru? Then again, he could have had a run in with Naraku. But she doubted a run in with him would mean Ginta and Hakku wouldn't be standing in front of her right now. They were his right hand men, they bearly ever left his side without his say-so.

"You're... alive..." Ginta was seemingly having trouble with his words as he stared at her with that dumbfounded look, "but... she said..."

"Must I repeat myself again you dirty yokai?" Sesshomaru's voice was commanding and deadly now, the voice he used when something or someone was getting on his nerves, "Leave."

"Sesshomaru-sama, please, I know these people," Kagome said, breaking her silence, "they mean no one any harm."

You couldn't say Sesshomaru was quite pleased with her words, but none the less he let his look stray away from the yokai, and began to walk away.

"We're leaving."

Rin followed without hesitation, but it took Kagome a moment before she turned to follow him. She couldn't help not wanting to leave, with these two here it meant Koga wasn't far off, and she just wanted to see someone with a better "bond" than she and Sesshomaru held. Yet still, she began to follow quite hastily, not wanting to be left behind. But before she could get far, Hakku lunged out and grabbed her wrist, stopping her. And unfortunately for him, this did not go unnoticed by Sesshomaru.

"You really do want to die, do you not?" Sesshomaru said with his threatening tone, stopping in his tracks, "For you are yet again standing in my way of lea--"

"Kagome," Hakku interupted quite stupidly, recieving and ever so popular death glare from Sesshomaru, "She told us you were dead."

Kagome turned her body to face him once more, but never got her words out as she opened her mouth, for Sesshomaru had spoken first.

"Now, what do you think you are doing here and why are you so intent on stopping my travels?" His voice was calm, but full of a deadly tone.

"...Who told you I was dead?" Kagome said, speaking after the deadly silence passed after Sesshomaru's words, it being clear that both wolf yokai were to frightened to give him a reply.

"The yokai slayer, Sango."

* * *

Koga glanced back down at the girl for the hundredth time, worried. She wouldn't stop making small noise of pain every time she was even a bit disturbed in her sleep like coma. Ginta and Hakku weren't back either... 

_Those two better have not gotten themselves into trouble. I can't go and save their asses right now..._

But soon Sango began to distract him from his thoughts. She was beginning to stir, as well as moan in pain, in his arms, blood starting up all over again. He tried to shush her with comforting words, but it helped none. Not to mention a breeze that was making her shiver, this night was one of his worsts. At least the breeze was bringing along the jumbled scent of two demons, assumably Ginta and Hakku. But that was just a mind trick. It wasn't Ginta and Hakku, it was two starving demons of Naraku's order. And right now... Koga frankly couldn't fight with Sango to look after.

Yet, demons never cared, and as they sulked in the looming darkness from the clouds they spied their "meal" with glinting, greedy, blood thirsty eyes. But it was a while before they would even dare to attack, and that was to be their downfall. Sango was a demon slayer, they had been told that much in a warning, but with small brains they thought she wouldn't arise from her slumber. But she was, and they failed to notice such. As a child, she and Kohaku had been trained to know what a demon's presence was, be able to know when they were coming. Sango had felt this prescence. This prescence had awoken her.

And when her eyes finally fluttered opened, she gazed at the eyes of the wolf yokai gazing down at her, and tried to warn him. But he hadn't understood. They would have died that moment if not for an old friend, one they thought nonexistent.

Not far behind those demons of hell ran a group of mortal and yokai, easily superior to the duo in front of them. Two wolf demons and a miko, as well as a human, a yokai, and an inu yokai following behind. The first three were running, while the following were only walking, the inu yokai fully aware of where they were going now. But that would soon change. The demons of hell leapt to attack Koga and Sango, and had a slight upper hand since Koga had mistaken them for others. But when their identities were clear, Koga jumped up as quick as he could with Sango in his arms, quietly and gently setting her down and returning to his fighting stance in front of her. But they were already coming at him, and he couldn't dodge with Sango right in the line of attack. If he moved one inch, she was dead. So he did the only thing he could do.

Punch and block like a psycho maniac as they came at him.

But he never got a chance, something pink in front of him made them bounce back. Then he took his chance. He found he could run through this... pink _thing _and attack, so he did. The demons were down in moments, the bodies decapitated and blood gushing to ground.

"What the..." muttered a voice from across the way, making Koga jump. He was really beginning to hate those damn demon clouds by now.

But that little problem escaped his mind as he gazed upon the black haired miko, whom was staring in confusion at her palms, muttering something about how she could never do that before.

"Ka- Kagome?"

Silence would then follow in its familiar way, whispering that something was supposed to happen, creating tension that was unbearable. Kagome would look up at a sight for sore eyes and her tears would well up, seeing Sango's sick body as well, and she would be frozen to her spot, the confusion gone from her mind. Sesshomaru would then appear with Rin and Jaken, gazing upon the scene with little interest, his eyes gazing at Sango's swollen, broken arm. Not seconds after Kagome would run into Koga's chest, grabbing the rim of his chest armor so tightly it turned her knuckles white, worried that Sango had in fact died. But then the mood would change with Sesshomaru's actions.

"You idiots."

The taiyokai moved quickly over to the sleeping yokai slayer, knelling down to tear off her bandages with a single sweeping motion of his wrist, sticking his index finger and thumb into the opening in her skin, the source of her blood loss. Both Koga and Kagome were too surprised by his actions to do anything right away, so Sesshomaru continued undisturbed. His fingers soon emerged, bloodied, but pinching something just as big as an eyeball. It was black, and obviously yokai. And without a doubt, Naraku's yokai by the spider mark on its back.

"She would have died in days if your idiocy and continued, wolf." Sesshomaru said with his normal, cold voice, squishing the insect-like yokai in his fist, his gaze upon Sango, "And she might as well be dead under your care."

Koga didn't retaliate, but rather put an arm nervously around Kagome, burying his nose in her hair. He knew what the inu yokai said was true, he had been idiotic. If he'd only been paying attention...

"Don't blame yourself Koga." Kagome muttered, "It is not your fault... Its Naraku's. He is the one that did this to all of us, not you, not anyone else. Sango is fine now, or she will be. Please... don't blame yourself."

The wolf demon let out a sigh. Her words were so comforting, but he couldn't find himself to believe her. True, it was Naraku's fault that both Sango and Kagome were put in their respective mental issues, and it was his fault that Sango had fallen ill. But it was his own fault that her illness had escalated so far. Of course, there were the yokai clouds above him that were messing with everyone's senses, but Sango had been right next to him - in his arms at night - and he hadn't noticed a single bit. Not even his "love's" words could comfort him.

Kagome then pulled away and knelt next to Sango, staring at the girl she had thought to be murdered until recently, tears beginning to fall down her face. She placed a hand on Sango's forehead only to pull back from the unexpected heat.

"Koga... she needs a bath. Could you help me get her down to one?"

* * *

Rin had tagged along as well, and she was helping keep Sango upright in the water. Kagome was washing her face and body, wetting her hair with the cold water. Every once in a while she would stir under the cold waterfalls, but she wouldn't open her eyes. And once the young woman was clean, Rin swam off to play in the small pond, leaving Kagome with her old friend. But the young girl didn't understand how dangerous the yokai slayer's fever was getting, and she didn't know how much stress this was putting on her friend. 

Kagome was hiding it pretty well though, allowing Sango to lean up against her shoulder in her coma like sleep, whispering words into her ear, telling her stories from her time. Every time Sango would moan in her fever Kagome would jump and panic, dripping the water on her forehead quickly. But, on the millionth time, the water seemed to take effect, Sango's eyes fluttering open slowly.

"Ghhh... where...?" her words were forming in confused lines, and Kagome was soon in front of her, holding her shoulders back to keep her upright.

"Shh. You're fine. You're safe." Kagome comforted, tears coming once more.

"...Am... I dead... Kago..me...?"

"No, Sango, you're alive. You're in a pond - in the water."

"Is Sango-san waking up?" Rin asked, appearing from nowhere as she usually did, floating beside Kagome.

"Yes, she is Rin-chan," Kagome replied, not looking at the young girl but at her drowsy friend, "Now would your please dress and go get Koga and Sesshomaru-sama? Can you do that?"

"Yup!"

And so the little girl left, dressing, leaving the bewildered Sango and crying Kagome behind.

"How... you died...?" Sango whispered, gazing at Kagome.

"No, no I didn't," Kagome wiped some water from Sango's forehead, "I'm alive..."

Sango looked at her for a moment, confusion swirling in her eyes, then smiled. Sitting up straighter, the water rippled violently as Sango hugged Kagome close.

"I thought..." she sobbed, "I thought you were... dead... I thought I was alone..."

Then Sango fell limp, either fainting or just sleeping, Koga and Sesshomaru appearing out of the forest.

* * *

She slept through the next hour, waking dressed and in Koga's arms, her arm throbbing violently. She moaned in pain, stretching her neck and grasping her injured arm. 

"Kagome?.." she muttered, clenching her eyes shut.

"I'm here." Kagome said, coming over to kneel by her friend's side, examining her arm as she did.

"What happened? What's with my arm?"

"It was broken, Sango, and one of Naraku's insects got inside the wound, and injected poison into your system," Sango's eyes were open now, "Koga couldn't tell I'm guessing, and when we found you, well, Sesshomaru-sama saved you."

Sango looked confused, "Sesshomaru? What was he doing here?"

"He is here," Kagome said, nodding towards him, "I've been traveling with him."

"Traveling...?"

Kagome smiled, "A story for another time, Sango. You really should rest now."

Sango shook her head defiantly, "No. I've been doing plenty of that, Kagome. I wan-"

An arrow cut her off, lodged in a tree to her side, having missed Kagome by inches. The miko, herself, had wide eyes and a look of both confusion and shock plastered on her face, trying to figure out what had just happened. The sound of yet another arrow pierced the air and Kagome tried to move in time, but she would have been hit if not for the hand that had grabbed it out of the air, holding it centimeters from her arm. She looked to see Sesshomaru, kneeling beside her, seemingly unphased by the pink miko power radiating from the arrow.

"Show yourself." He said calmly to the forest, snapping the arrow in his grasp, keeping his calm composure as he stood.

The tension could have been cut with a butter knife as the figure stepped from the shadows, her bow held high, an arrow ready to be fired. Her face struck Kagome like a blow to the head, the girl suddenly finding herself sick to her stomach. Why would Kikyo want to kill her? It wasn't like InuYasha was still here... oh no.

"Why?" Sesshomaru asked in calm tones, even though he needn't speak to get his answer.

"You do know she killed your brother, right?" Kikyo replied, not lowering her weapon.

"Half-brother."

"None the less..."

"And she didn't kill him, miko."

A shrill laugh left her, "On most terms I wouldn't have believed Naraku, but he was highly convincing this time. The proof led to no one other Kagome or myself, and I can assure you, I didn't murder him," she smirked, "Has she deceived you as well?"

"No one has deceived this Sesshomaru, and I doubt that someone ever will."

"I beg to differ." Kikyo aimed her bow at Kagome and pulled back on the string, "She has."

"I would think it is Naraku that is doing the deceiving here, miko."

"Believe what you wish."

Another arrow cut through the air, but it was blocked by a string of green coming from Sesshomaru's palm.

"I would advise you not to do that again." Sesshomaru said, an icy edge in his warning.

Kikyo replied by nocking another arrow.

"Kikyo, why would I kill him?" Kagome suddenly cut in, her eyes not moving from the tip of the arrow in front of her.

"So you could go with him, abandoning everyone and everything else."

"Doesn't that sound a little like your plan?" Kagome asked quietly, gazing at Kikyo with intensity. Didn't Kikyo know her better than that?

Kikyo didn't reply that time, but glared and icy stare to her target.

"Leave," Sesshomaru said, "Or I will kill you. And, of course, I am quite aware you are not alone."

Kagome shivered,_ Not alone?_

"I'd like to see you try and kill me, you dog." she smirked again, "For I am already dead."

It was Sesshomaru's turn not to reply, answering her with his uncaring composure. He drew Tetsusaiga in one fluid movement with InuYasha's arm, his stance showing he was ready to move without a warning.

"Must I repeat myself?"

That was when Kikyo turned her attention to Sesshomaru, pointing her arrow his way. They stood in silence for a moment, just looking at eachother before Kikyo shot her arrow, the flying object raidiating with pink power. The yokai simply blocked it with the blade of his father's sword, charging her way, ignoring the Saimyosho appearing from the shadows. The small insects were of no meaning to him, and he didn't really care that Naraku was trying to spy on him, wasn't he always doing something of the type anyway? So, he cut into Kikyo with one graceful motion, the blade of Tetsusaiga without blood from the clay body.

Her torso fell from her legs, a hollow interior being shown, no organs or blood gushing as would a regular body. The legs fell as well, and for a moment everyone was fooled, then the body -- both parts -- began to bubble and rise. Sesshomaru's eyes widened, his mind beginning to yell at him, slowly figuring out what Kikyo's real intentions were. His body turned to look at the group behind him, an unfimiliar gleam in his eyes. Kagome noticed this almost instantly as she looked at him, quickly realizing that he had noticed something of danger, her mind preparing herself for anything he might do.

She blinked.

They were now sitting next to two graves, Sesshomaru and Koga nowhere to be seen.

* * *

**A/N:** **evil laughter Guess I'll leave you there. Sorry it was so short, only around 2000 words. Happy Mother's Day!!!!!!!!!!!**


	9. AN: Sorry

Author's Note

Sad to say, my next update may take a while... a long while.

Being the idiot I am, I accedenatally deleted the chapter I wrote. The _finished _chapter I wrote.

See, I deleted the Word file after I uploaded it to Fanfiction, so, I had no backup. I was updating, and I wanted to see if there was anything was wrong, so I went to press the "edit" button on Chapter/Content manager, but... I pressed the **delete button**. And, of course, the one time I could save it by pressing "no," I spaced it and pressed "yes" without looking at what it wanted.

And I was updating tonight (6/1/07)...

Sorry!!!!!!

I really am!!!!

And this sucks for me because I have to remember everything I wrote then rewrite it...

Go ahead, egg me or something. So, don't expect an update for about a month.

Sorry again.


	10. The Taiyokai Falls

**A/N: Hehehehe... sorry for my last mess up. My bad. You guys are free to egg me over the internet. But here it is... the delayed chapter.**

* * *

Good... at least he'd gotten them out of there. 

But there was something else to pay attention to. Kikyo's body was glowing now, rising fall a few feet off the ground, encased in a dark light. Her scent was changing and both he and Koga were tense, rooted to their spots, awaiting the conculsion. Suddenly a burst of darkness radiated off her body, peircing through the air as light would enter a dark room, blowing the two yokai's hair back behind them. And finally, when the darkness faded, there stood someone Sesshomaru had vowed to kill long ago.

Naraku stood there, in his dark prescence, smirking at them.

"So, you managed to get her out of here, have you Sesshomaru?" the spider yokai said in his soft voice, staring at Sesshomaru with dark eyes.

Sesshomaru's silence was Naraku's answer.

"Why do even care what I do to her, Sesshomaru? Why, for you, most mortals mean next to nothing. What's so important about this miko, hmm? Is it that, perhaps, you harbor some feelings for her?" His voice was mocking, but held a foreign tone.

Sesshomaru knew that when Naraku was decieving him, it was obvious. But this time, he was actually curious. Naraku wasn't sure of something this time, he actually didn't know. He didn't know that Kagome was with child... well, at least for now. And, with that information, Sesshomaru took mental note not to let his tounge slip. So, without hesitation, he grabbed the hilt of Tetsusaiga with his brother's arm, and charged Naraku. Koga followed quickly after him, his fists balled and packing a punch.

Koga's attack was easily dodged, but Tetsusaiga hit straight on, slicing his arm. But, never the less, the arm just regenerated, and Naraku moved to the other side of the clearing in a flash.

"You never cease to amaze me Sesshomaru," he said mockingly, "But I, unfortunately, don't have the time to kill you two. I've got other things to attend to with you being away from her, Sesshomaru."

Then, in a flash, Naraku faded into the darkness.

* * *

Kagome blinked again. What in the world had just happened? 

"Kagome..." Sango said in confusion, "What...?"

The miko shrugged, "Your guess is as good as mine, Sango."

There was no doubt that this was by Sesshomaru's doing, but the question was how had he done it? She knew that because he was demon, he possesed some supernatural powers, but this just seemed a little far out. She'd seen him turn into his demon form, she'd been threatened with his poison talons, and she'd seen him use that wip of light on InuYasha, but otherwise, she knew little of his powers.

"Rin knows what happened, Kagome-chan!" The young one just popped out of nowhere as she usually did, making Kagome jump out of her skin, "Oh, sorry Kagome-chan, Rin did not mean to scare you."

"It's ok." Kagome said, feeling her heart starting to beat again, "You said you knew what had happened?"

"Yes. Rin fell off a broken bridge once and she was falling towards rocks, and Sesshomaru turned into a ball of white light and saved her by catching her. He called it 'teleportation.'"

"Oh, I've heard of that," Sango said, speaking more to herself than the others, "but usually it was just the demons moving faster than the human eye could follow."

Kagome didn't understand it really, but she shoved the thought to the back of her mind anyways. She studied the surroundings she sat in, gazing up at the tall trees that were shading her. There was sun here, but if you looked off into the distance, you could see those looming clouds. That only told her how far she had been "teleported," or whatever, and it sort of amazed her. By now she expected herself not to be so surprised at these things, but yet they never ceased to amaze her. Curious eyes then fell upon the graves, where the Yoda look-a-like was now standing. Jaken was seemingly reading the tombstones made from wood, muttering to himself quietly.

She tried to catch what he was saying, but ended up only hearing one word.

_InuYasha._

And there she froze, in a sort of trance, discovering that she was at her love's grave. Her mind was telling her to go over to his burial site, but her body wasn't listening, only freezing in its spot.

"Kagome..." Sango said softly, for she had heard Jaken as well, "Kagome, this is where you buried him, is it not?"

"No," Kagome chocked out, tears now streaming down her cheeks, "This-- this is where Sesshomaru buried him... it-- it must be."

That was when she let her head fall to her knees, her body shaking with silent tears. Why had Sesshomaru sent them here, of all places? This was the last place she wanted to be. She didn't want to be where he lay, dead, rotting in the ground. If she wanted to be with him, she would have to be dead. Not alive. Being with a grave was painful, being at the site where what remained of his body lay was unbearable. Naraku had slaughtered him, no doubt. InuYasha's body no longer resembled him. His face was cut and torn, his arm was missing... that wasn't him lying in the ground. That was his past buried beneath the ground. A reminder of what pain he had suffered as he had been murdered, as he had been mutilated and slaughtered.

"Kagome... oh, Kagome," Sango then came to kneel next to her friend, placing her unbroken arm across her back in a comforting gesture, "Don't cry. He's at peace. His body lies next to his mother's. That's what he would have wanted, and he would have wanted you not to cry over him..."

Kagome shook a little bit more violently, remembering their last encounter.

_...Kagome, you must let go of my memory, I am at peace..._

Sango was right. He had said it himself. He was happy. He would be happy.

He would be even happier when she came back to him. Especially if she came back to him without taking her own life.

* * *

Sesshomaru ran swiftly beside the wolf yokai, following the scent trail Naraku was leaving behind. Whether the trail itself was planted of just left behind, they didn't care. All they knew is that they had to fight the urge to return to Kagome and the others, for if they did, they would be leading Naraku right to them, where as now, Naraku was searching instead of finding. Sesshomaru hadn't been as dumb as to leave them without defense, for as they left, he had hidden their scents quickly. But still, it wouldn't take long for the spider demon to find them. 

And as he ran, he pondered on Naraku's words. Never before had he ever seen the spider yokai actually curious, he had only seen him pretending not to know something. And, his question was bothering Sesshomaru some. Why did he care about this miko? He had never before been so driven to protect someone, not even the few women he had been with. Was it because she was with child? That was part of it, and that he knew that, but he still felt there was something else. And he hadn't... cared about them nearly as much as he was with Kagome. It was strange, and he wasn't sure that he liked it. Rin was the first mortal in his life so far, and she was to be the only one, but all of the sudden, there was another.

Was he going soft? After all those years of despising anything with mortal blood, how could his perspective change so much and so quickly? Mortals were pathetic, filthy, weak creatures. They knew nothing of the real world in their short existence, where as he and other demons had lived for many years. They were dumb in a way, and this was true for Rin as well. But this miko girl, she had a strange aura of knowing as most demons held, and a confidence that was not like the other mortals of this time. There was something strange about this girl, and he was afraid that he was too curious of her. He couldn't let himself become... too curious.

And the wolf demon felt the same way. He was afraid that Sesshomaru would become too curious or too close. Naraku's words were effecting him as well, and he had to admit they were a little disturbing. Kagome, she was a strange and beautiful girl, and Koga was dead set on having her as his. He was the one that wanted to protect her, and he wanted to take her away from this stuck up inu yokai. But, he knew he was outmatched, with or without the shikon shards. It would be suicide to try to get her away from him if he was set on keeping her. And if he was that set on keeping her with him... the thought was distrubing Koga. What did this inu yokai want with her? Was he actually harboring some feelings for her as Naraku had said? This yokai was half-brother to InuYasha, and, on top of that, he had hated InuYasha. What... what if he wanted to hurt her...

But, ignoring his paranoia, Koga tried to push the thoughts to the back of his mind. Naraku's scent had stopped moving now, and the wolf yokai knew that that was his main focus now, not the reasons of a taiyokai.

And, apparently, Sesshomaru had noticed the scent change, his running speed doubling. And as he did this, he cursed himself. The transportation of the girls had taken out more energy than he had expected, and he needed all that energy if Naraku was turning to fight. Yet still, as he tried to recover all that lost energy, Naraku's scent was becoming stronger, and soon he would face off with his brother's murderer.

* * *

There was a silence that was messing with her as she sat next to his grave, feeling utterly alone somehow. Sango was there, and so were Rin and Jaken, but still, the area around her seemed empty. So, as she had so many times before, she lost herself in memories. She remembered him, in both good and bad times, and she felt no tears arise. She remembered that empty darkness she had shared with him for those few moments, when he had held her close, and she remembered her family. They were probably thinking that she was dead as well by now, her mother was probably crying by now. Her mother, why did she have to do this to her? For all her mother knew, she and InuYasha had been killed in battle. 

But it wasn't like she could go and visit. Not under Sesshomaru's protection. And, on top of that, her mother didn't know she was pregnant.

At the time, she had been to afraid to tell her mother, to shocked to even admit it to herself.

Everything was going to hell right now.

"Kagome," Sango spoke, worried by her friend's expression, "Are you ok?"

The miko felt the tears rise again. She shook her head, telling herself she'd cried to much today, not aware that Sango had even spoke to her.

"What's wrong?" Sango was now kneeling beside her friend, not sure if Kagome was even listening to her.

This time Kagome heard her, but she didn't want to answer. She wasn't alright, and she knew that, but did she want to talk to it. She wasn't sure if she was ready to talk about how she felt. But still, Sango had always been there for her, and she had a right to know.

"Everything, Sango," Kagome said in a soft voice, "I'm-- I'm pregnant. He's dead."

Sango's eyes widened when she heard Kagome's words, but soon, her expression softened and she smiled.

"Kagome, that's great. Why would it be a bad-- oh, no. InuYasha..."

Kagome nodded without looking back up at her, hating the idea that her child would never know its father. Of course, her family would be there... but she knew what it was like to not know your father. But, suddenly, her attention was diverted from her thoughts.

Sesshomaru's aura was crawling through her miko senses, as was Koga's, but they were... fainter.

And sure enough, after a minute or so, Koga appeared, a bloody site. His chest was coated in his blood, the armor broken and cracked. The headband he usually wore was absent, his hair now down and flowing down his chest, sticky with blood. Up his arm ran a shallow wound, but it was no longer bleeding by the looks of it. Though as beat up as he looked, he just simply walked over, limping a bit, and sat down, closing his eyes as he leaned up against a tree. Sango was soon at his side, speaking to him, glancing at his arm.

Then came Sesshomaru.

His armor was gone, a deep, leathal gash across his chest that was spilling blood. His forehead was bleeding from a cut above his right eyebrow, his eyes closed. With his clothing was tattered, his shirt was hanging open, and his silver hair had taken a red tint. The blood was covering him from head to toe, Tetsusaiga clutched in his left hand by its blade, his hand bleeding as well. And as he stood there, the blood stained pelt fell from his shoulder, revealing a slash across his neck that was bleeding lightly.

He opened his eyes for a second, meeting Kagome's stare. And for a second he held his gaze with hers, a strange look in his eyes, making Kagome snap out of her shock. Then his eyes closed and his face took on a gentle expression, the mighty taiyokai crumpling to the ground.


	11. No longer a secret

**EDIT There has been an edit to this chapter's content since it was first posted, mainly at the very end during the short battle sequence. For the sake of new readers, I'll explain it at the end of the chapter.**

* * *

He found he couldn't move when he looked around, finding himself in a lightless room. There was nothing there really, just him and the darkness. He was lying on the ground, his head propped up on nothing, and his body was sore for some reason. He remembered his fight with Naraku over the time he lay there in silence, becoming somewhat disgusted with his wounds. Never before had he fallen like this, and at the hand of Naraku no doubt. The last time he had remembered hurting like this was when his damned half-breed brother had hit him with Tetsusaiga. 

But even as he lay there in his pain, he could still sense the aura of the miko next to him. And since she was nowhere to be seen, he came to the conclusion that he must be asleep. Sleep didn't come to him easily though, he had never allowed it to. Come to think of it, he rarely needed to sleep. The last time he had slept couldn't have been a month ago, at the most two months. That was how he had grown up, taught to stay up even when he felt he was about to fall, taught never to lower his guard.

With his stubborn nature, he told himself to awake, not wanting Naraku to reappear while he was down. But he felt Kagome's aura restrain him in a way, her subconscious commanding that he was to rest and not awake. So, surprisingly, he obeyed, and tried to concentrate on healing his own wounds.

Yet, not moments later, did a familiar laugh reach his ears.

"Finally fallen, have we, Sesshomaru?" called the voice from the darkness, the red clad hanyo appearing next to him, "Never thought I would see this day."

But when Sesshomaru opened his mouth to retort, he couldn't find his voice. Was he really that weakened…?

"Ha!" InuYasha said with a mocking smile, sitting next to the ticked off taiyokai, "Can't even speak, can we?"

Sesshomaru simply ignored his hanyo brother, half wondering why the man had appeared in his dream, assuming that this was a dream, of course.

"So has Naraku simply gotten so strong that he could take you down, Sesshomaru?" asked InuYasha with a curious tone, a serious look that belonged on Miroku now crossing his face, "That can't be good. And you even hacked off an arm from my carcass to get Tetsusaiga."

There the two remained in silence for the next couple moments, Sesshomaru wanting to jump up and punch his brother in the face as the hanyo stared down at him in this helpless state.

"You had better take care of her, Sesshomaru." InuYasha said, breaking the silence, gazing away from his brother, "Or you'll have hell to deal with. You've taken her under your care now, and if you turn your back on her, Tetsusaiga just might through a fit… Considering that I still can control the sword."

Inwardly, Sesshomaru wasn't very thrilled with his baby brother's words. How dare the hanyo even suspect that he, Sesshomaru, would go back on his word. Whether or not this miko was mortal, she was carrying a child, and he had promised her his protection from anyone or anything that would wish to attack her. He noticed the look his brother was beginning to give him nearly immediately, noting that InuYasha would never look at him like that when he could attack him.

"She's happy with you right now, Sesshomaru, as much as I hate to say it. Try to keep it that way." Then his brother faded into black, leaving Sesshomaru to his thoughts.

---

Kagome sat up against the tree trunk with Sesshomaru's head in her lap, looking down at the taiyokai with worry. His body had gotten quiet hot to the touch, though she doubted that temperature wasn't one to cause a demon to have a fever. It was sundown now, and she looked up at the appearing stars.

The damage Naraku had done to Sesshomaru was surprising as well as deadly, but he seemed to be healing fairly quickly. Yet she did notice that he had seemingly lost all control of his body, his stillness indicating that he couldn't move. But that wasn't the same for his little companion, Rin. She had been running around the camp most of the night, checking up on both Koga and Sesshomaru at least every fifteen minutes. And when she wasn't asking how they were doing, she was delivering bandages to Sango and helping out with the wolf yokai's wounds since Sango had only one good arm at the time.

And even though Sango's arm was nowhere near being fully healed, she had begun to move the arm around with less pain, stretching her muscles carefully every once in a while. But, besides her arm, Koga wasn't fairing as well as they would like him to. His wounds just wouldn't close completely, and even though the blood loss wasn't as bad, it was threatening his health in more ways than one. Kagome was thinking about having to resort to stitching the wound up, but she hoped it wouldn't come to that. The only needle and string she could get here probably weren't the most sanitary of tools, and though he probably had immunity to most diseases as Sesshomaru did, she didn't want to take any chances.

But, no matter what the days brought her, she didn't move from that spot once. The last thing she wanted to do was move the unconscious yokai, in fear of reopening his deep wounds, and she definitely didn't want to disturb him if his body was trying to heal itself. So, for three days she would sit there with the taiyokai's head in her lap, camped out next to her old love's grave. And there she tried to decide what she would do when the baby came, since she knew she wouldn't have much time to think about it otherwise. She tried to figure out how she would send news to her family and how and where she would raise her child.

But something disturbing came creeping to her mind on the third day, while the moon was disappearing with the sun's light. She knew she wanted to keep this baby, but in all technicalities, she was underage in her time. If her mother strongly thought that the baby wasn't going to be a good thing, she wouldn't have much choice in a lot of things. For all she knew, he mother could want her to have an abortion. And what if an abortion was the right thing to do…? It had saved so many people's lives from going down the gutter.

But did she want to end an innocent person's life to make hers better?

But luckily for her, something distracted her fro the dark thoughts. There he was, the unconscious hell's angel, awakening in her lap.

And to her relief, as he awoke, he sat up. Thank kami he could move. But, to her horror, as he sat up, she could see that his white bandages on his bare chest were turning red.

"Sesshomaru—" she said in a frantic voice, but he cut her off.

"Silence miko, I will be fine." He said in his velvet voice, pushing the hair that feel down his chest to his back.

That was when he turned around, taking his folded shirt that lay beside the miko in silence, shrugging the top back on. She was amazed by how unphased he seemed, but then again, he had slept for three days straight.

And while she looked at him with her brown eyes, he let his own eyes look around the small camp. The demon slayer was sitting next to a now, miraculously, fully recovered Koga, who in turn was looking at Sesshomaru with a calm look. Next he spotted Rin, whom was seated directly across from him, apparently getting on Jaken's nerves. Nothing seemed too amiss, besides the fact that he had a feeling he had not been out only an hour or two.

"If you're wondering, you've been out for three days, Sesshomaru-sama." Kagome said, answering his unspoken question.

"Then we should leave here," he stated, getting up to his feet, "It is not likely that Naraku will leave us alone much longer."

Kagome stood up at his words, watching as the yokai began to walk out of camp. Rin was running after him, as was Jaken, but she found that she could quiet get her legs to work. She felt sick to the stomach, the sensation of needing to barf registering in the back of her mind. And before she could even gag, she was blowing chunks as she sat on her knees, her baby obviously not agreeing with her for some reason. Before she knew it, Koga was at her side, asking her if she was alright.

Letting her mind get the feeling of disgust out of her system before she stood, she found that Sesshomaru and the others had stopped walking, the great taiyokai waiting patiently for her to catch up.

Now a new feeling had entered her mind, as another left. She knew that in the back of her mind, there had always been the… hope that maybe she wasn't pregnant. It wasn't that she didn't want the baby, she just wasn't sure if she was able to take care of it. But, the fact that she had thrown up for no apparent reason made it all real to her. There it was, a baby growing in her stomach, and the most feared yokai to be known taking her in his care.

So, not wanting to keep anyone up, Kagome started to walk over to the group, not wanting to run and accidentally barf again. But before she knew it, she was caught up in someone's arms and taken over to Sesshomaru.

"We're going with you," Koga stated, Sango behind him, "with Naraku after us, the best we can do is stick together."

And surprisingly, as Kagome was put down, Sesshomaru just nodded and began to walk again without a word, Rin running up to the miko's side. And as the little girl talked 99 miles an hour, making sure her friend was okay, Kagome lost herself in thought once again. What was with Sesshomaru lately? He was much more tolerant of mortals than he usually was, and he would have just brushed Koga and Sango off before.

Yet, was his injuries the answer of her questions? Was he really okay as he said? Not even InuYasha would be able to move after injuries like that. But then again, Sesshomaru had already shown her how much more power he held over his half-brother. How could she be sure though? The moment he had sat up, his wounds had begun bleeding again. Then her eye caught something at his side. It was Tenseiga, pulsing. The sword of healing, that had to be it. Before, when he had been hit with the Wind Scar, the Tenseiga had saved him from death. There was no other answer.

But there was one more question in her mind.

Why did she care this much?

She knew that caring was in her nature, but she was caring about him the way she had cared for InuYasha, if not a little less. It was kind of bothering her a tiny bit, her mind lingering on the fact subconsciously. Was it just because he was protecting her, or was it for other reasons she wasn't sure of? When InuYasha had been alive, she had feared Sesshomaru with all of her heart, for both the reasons of his power and for the potential threat of actually killing InuYasha. But now, in less than the span of a month, all of those feelings had changed.

And Sesshomaru was in a similar dilemma himself. He too was wondering why he was so protective of this girl, and why she had cared for him for those last three days. But more or less, he was pondering the words his hanyo brother had told him.

"…_She's happy with you right now, Sesshomaru…"_

What did that mean? Was she happy that she wasn't dead, or was she happy that she was actually with him? She couldn't be happy that she wasn't dead, because, for a long while after she had escaped death, he had noted that she had seemingly wanted to die. She had wanted to be with InuYasha. But now, it seemed that she no longer thought of death that way. Was it because of his presence, or had she simply figured out that dying would accomplish nothing. Well, whether it was that or something else, he was slightly afraid she had started getting feelings for him.

He was afraid because he had seen what love would make humans do. Sara had fallen in love with him and sold her soul to demons, eventually leading her to her death. It was true that Kagome had more sense than that, but that didn't mean she wouldn't fall a victim to something else. And plus, Sesshomaru was incapable to love someone. That's what he had been told by his father and mother on occasion, and Sesshomaru knew it may as well be true. He didn't want to love and he didn't think he ever could love. Love was dangerous in his life anyway. If he did indeed fall in love with someone on day, she would constantly be in danger. Being Lord of the Western Lands meant he had allies, but it also meant he had enemies. Not that anyone had been smart enough to ever try to attack him, with the exception of Naraku, but he couldn't guarantee that forever.

He was incapable of loving and he wanted it to stay that way.

* * *

Naraku sat there, looking out the window in frustration. Kanna had just recently left him with the knowledge that Sesshomaru and Koga were absolutely fine, and that wasn't making him to happy. The damn miko had taken care of Sesshomaru until he had healed, with the help of Tenseiga, of course, and now the taiyokai was back to full power. And even though Koga didn't pose too much of a threat, having him alive wasn't making Naraku any happier. 

It didn't matter that Sesshomaru had left him with fatal wounds from InuYasha's damn sword since he had already regenerated, but the mere fact that Sesshomaru could now use Tetsusaiga was pissing him off. Sesshomaru had much more knowledge of Tetsusaiga and its powers, which meant there would be many more things Naraku didn't know. The thought was unnerving him in a way, leaving him with a small sense of insecurity. If he didn't know what he was fighting against, he was screwed.

But that wouldn't stop him. He would continue to search for the miko that had evaded him, and he would kill her. The same went for the demon slayer he had recently discovered alive; she would die at his hand as well.

Then he let out a laugh. It didn't matter if Kagome was alive or not, she was probably an absolute wreck since he had killed InuYasha. She had loved him, and he knew for a fact that humans didn't let go of love very fast. He still felt the feelings Onigumo had for Kikyo, even though he hated the dead miko with his whole heart, and by that he knew that Kagome wasn't about to let go of InuYasha's memories and he knew that she would always hate him until she killed him. Considering that she could kill him, of course.

* * *

They didn't stop walking for the next two days. Kagome didn't mind, for over the weeks of staying with him she had gotten used to him non-stop walking habits. But, then again, Ah and Un had joined up with them on the first day of walking, appearing virtually out of nowhere. Rin had spent most of her time riding the two headed demon, sleeping on its back when she had to. But Kagome had only gotten upon its back once, when Sesshomaru had ordered her to get some sleep. Sango, on the other hand, had needed to sleep by early the second morning, Koga taking her up on his back. Kagome noted that InuYasha was a saint compared to how much Sesshomaru had them walk. Yet, she didn't complain, just continued to walk, ignoring the sore feet that were yelling at her. 

And from there no one spoke for the most, besides the quiet, short conversations she held with Sango and Koga. No demons had come after them either, surprisingly, so the days had been both quiet and boring. So, when they finally stopped to rest, it only got more boring. But at least they had stopped next to a lake, so Kagome and Sango had time to bathe.

"Kagome?" Sango asked as she waded in the cold water, "Are you okay?"

Kagome only responded with a questioning look as she waded in the water as well, helping Rin wash her hair.

"What I mean is have you been okay traveling with Sesshomaru?" Sango said, responding to Kagome's look.

"Oh," Kagome said, looking away from Rin's hair for a moment, "I've been fine traveling with him, Sango… Why do you ask?"

"Well, he was our enemy at one time, Kagome."

"… I know that. But things have changed ever since Naraku killed them, Sango," Kagome said slowly, choosing her words carefully, "You do know that you were the only one should have survived, right?"

It was then Sango's turn to reply with a confused look.

"When Naraku came after us the first time, Sango, I died… or I was very close to dying. But from what I understand, Rin found my body and she didn't want me to die," Kagome said, forgetting Rin's hair completely, "So, Sesshomaru brought me back to life using Tenseiga… I'm not sure why he did it though. He could have just as easily ignored Rin and walked away, allowing me to die. But he didn't. He wanted me to live for some reason, and I can't figure out why. But whatever reason that is, it is why I'm here today."

And that was when Sango kind of spaced out, lost in thought while Kagome returned to the little girl's hair.

"I guess… I guess you're right, Kagome. Things have changed… many things have changed."

---

When Kagome and the others returned to the small campsite, they found Koga there, alone. A fire was in the middle of the small area, some sort of boar roasting on it.

"I don't know if you'll like it," Koga said, his eyes reflecting the dancing flames, "But there wasn't much to hunt out here. Sesshomaru ran off to do his own hunting."

"Its fine, Koga." Kagome said with a smile, sitting down across the fire, "Thank you."

Sango agreed as well, sitting down next to the wolf yokai, muttering her thanks. She was kind of disturbed now, knowing exactly what Sesshomaru was out hunting. When she had been taught about yokai's and their ways in her youth, they would have classified Sesshomaru as an upper, strong, dangerous yokai, while Koga would be one of the stronger, lesser yokai. But not only was Sesshomaru an upper yokai, he was a yokai lord, which meant she had no doubt of what he was out hunting right now.

Yokai of his kind ate humans.

That's why she had been so worried about Kagome traveling with him. But she had to remember, yokai of his kind not only held an unimaginable amount of self control, they also held the ability to go without the need to eat for months on end. And plus, Rin was still here, wasn't she?

But what really bothered her was that she was supposed to be the one protecting the humans he hunted. Yet, she knew she couldn't stop him. He needed to eat eventually, just as everyone did. And if she stopped him, she'd have to try and slay him, which would lead her to death. She was no match for him, even when he was at his weakest. She had to live with it. She had to hold back the urge to go run after him.

Soon he was back though, not a drop of blood on him, after everyone had finished eating. He did notice the look Sango gave him, but it wasn't like he hadn't expected it. She was a demon slayer after all; it was her duty to stop him from doing such things. It was actually her duty to kill both him and Koga, but he knew that wasn't going to happen.

And as Kagome gave him a small smile, he sat down up against a tree, not particularly close to anybody, and rested his arm on a propped up knee. There he stared into the fire, watching the dancing flames with half a mind. When would Naraku attack them next? Or would the spider yokai just lie low until they found him themselves? But what ever it may be, Sesshomaru would be prepared this time, and he would come out victorious.

But once Naraku had been defeated, what would happen? Would he simply continue with life as he had been before all of this? No… he wouldn't. Before, when Naraku had not been a name to his knowing, he had spent most of his life searching for Tetsusaiga, as well as searching for InuYasha so he could kill him. But now he could do neither of those things. He had Tetsusaiga, and InuYasha was dead. The only thing left was to return to his lands and watch over them. Rin and Jaken would come with no doubt, but what of Kagome? Would he simply just return her home, to her family? Or would he continue to watch over her until the baby was born, and then be there for the remainder of that child's life?

But, did he really have a choice once Naraku was dead? From what he had previously known, Kagome had only traveled with the hanyo for the sake of finding the sacred jewel shards and destroying Naraku. What had she planned to do after that? He had already guaranteed her safety until the baby was born, meaning she would stay with him until that day, but what would she do after? What would she want to do after?

"Kagome-chan?" Rin questioned as she sat next to the miko, breaking his train of thought, "Will you be staying with Sesshomaru-sama and Rin forever?"

And there it was. Of course Rin would be the one to ask such things, for when she spoke, she usually did things like this. She had always asked about the things that were on his mind at the time, and he didn't know how she did it. He never told her anything, so how could she figure it out?

And, across from him, he heard Kagome giggle softly, "I'll stay with you as long as I must, Rin. And if you want me to stay longer, and Sesshomaru-sama will allow it, I'll stick around for as long as you wish."

Sesshomaru let out a mental sigh, closing his eyes. How in the world did Rin do such things?

---

The next day they were up again, walking down a meadow path, no one speaking much. The scent of Naraku was heavy again, those once distant clouds reappearing over their heads, so everyone's nerves were tense. Kagome had found a bow and arrow, so it wasn't like she was defenseless, but she still felt nervous, noting that she needed to be much more careful not to get injured. Every blow she took, the baby took as well.

And for a long time nothing happened, even though both Sesshomaru and Koga had noticed a nearby presence, so they continued walking uninterrupted. But everyone there knew that this would not last long, especially once Kagome's miko's senses were filled with Naraku's aura, and Sango could tell that the demon was close. So, eventually, the whole caravan of both yokai and human came to stop, Rin and Jaken running off to safety. Everyone there knew that battle was inevitable now, so they prepared themselves.

The minutes passed by with a lingering, nervous, silence, everyone awaiting something that they knew nothing about. So, when a figure began to appear on the opposite side of the meadow, everyone tensed. And when the figure became easier to distinguish, they all burned the image of the woman into their heads.

She was a tall woman, not much shorter than Sesshomaru, with black, silky hair that rested in a high ponytail up upon her head. She wore a kimono that was made of a black material, a blood red, thorn encased, rose planted on her right shoulder. The thorns ran down her right sleeve, twisting and turning down the fabric. The belt of her kimono was too blood red, tied in the back, two swords held in place at her waist by it. Her eyes were closed, a small smirk planted upon her lips. Apparently she was finding this all very amusing, the way they all waited in a fear for her. Of course, there was no fear radiating from the inu yokai, but she had seemed to expect that.

"So anxious for my arrival, are we?" she called across the meadow in a smooth voice, stopping in her tracks with a wider smirk, "…Are you afraid of me, because your scents are telling me you are."

And as she stood there, with that smirk across her face, she wasted no time in drawing her swords. They were just as normal as any other sword, but both Sesshomaru and Koga could feel the yokai power radiating from them, which made them a little uneasy. Kagura had been annoying enough with the damn wind, so what did this girl possess?

"And your scent is telling me something very interesting, miko…" she said with a soft, curious tone.

But the moment those words escaped her mouth, Sesshomaru was neck to neck with her, Tetsusaiga drawn. He knew exactly what she had smelt, and he wasn't going to let her live with it. If Naraku knew that Kagome was pregnant, everything would become more than dangerous for the miko. And, if she had picked up that fine of a detail in Kagome's scent from that far away, she had just as good of a nose as he did, which wasn't good in many ways.

"You die here, girl." He said with a deadly tone, throwing the girl back with a burst of strength.

From there the battle raged, the newcomer fighting with a skill that matched Sesshomaru's, both of them finding that they were so equally matched that they couldn't get a scratch on each other. And, in noting this, Sesshomaru wouldn't allow anyone else into the fight, knowing that they'd be killed in an instant. But, unfortunately, as the battle raged on, Sesshomaru soon noticed that she had much more stamina than he. He wasn't tired or anything, but after a time, she had a bit more energy than he did. He wasn't aware of how long they had fought after a good thirty minutes, but he wasn't going to allow her to live.

And, at about that time, she was getting ticked off. This battle was keeping her on her toes, no doubt, but it was also boring her. So, with a jump backwards away from the demon lord, she raised both her swords, crossing them over each other above her head in an X formation, the blades glowing with a deadly black light. She smiled as she let the blades fall, a massive amount of force behind them as a red light shot through the air like an arrow, millions of razor sharp energy blast shooting the group's way. All of them were a blood red color, deadly to the touch, and Sesshomaru knew he couldn't stop them at the speed they were traveling. So the yokai prepared himself, but stopped the moment he noticed that they all weren't going to hit him. And with the little time he had left, he used his talons to reopen the wound in his stomach, blood spilling everywhere and staining his kimono.

Then, as the first of the attack came, Tetsusaiga pulsed, a blue barrier appearing in front of him, the width of it protecting the group behind him as well. That was the only way to activate this power, to be injured and unable to fight. Tetsusaiga protected it's wielder from a deadly attack, just as Tenseiga did, but with this sword it didn't happen much. And in truth, he hadn't even been sure if it would work, since Tetsusaiga had not technically accepted him as its owner. But it had, and that was all he needed.

The attack was bouncing back off the barrier, ricocheting in every way, no longer posing a threat. That was when Sesshomaru took his chance, while his opponent was recovering lost energy from using her attack, and he launched Wind Scar. But, by then, she was gone. Disappearing from the battle ground and evading the attack. But she wasn't gone from here. Sesshomaru had caught her form moving at an intense speed, his eyes only catching a flicker of movement.

Then he heard a soft laugh, turning his body towards his opponent, whom was behind him. She was there, next to Kagome, fighting her. Kagome was somehow generating an enormous amount of miko energy in her hands to defend herself, the pink energy taking a form that could be a sword of some sort.. This was dangerous now, for Kagome didn't know how to control her miko power, and it was going every which way, Kagome probably not even knowing how she had created it. She could easily hurt him if he got to close to the energy, unintentionally purifying him, and she wouldn't even know what had happened.

But he ignored that, charging in at the yokai, readying his talons. And, somehow, he got her, his hand ripping through her stomach and going through the other side of her body, Tetsusaiga limp in his other hand. For a moment, she stood there, stunned, but her weapons soon fell limp in her hands, her body weight held up by his arm. Then she looked up at him, seemingly stunned and unable to move, but then she smiled, and disappeared from the scene, Sesshomaru only left with her blood on his hands.

And that was when he knew that she hadn't left empty handed, for know Naraku knew of Kagome's pregnancy.

* * *

**A.N. (READ PLEASE) Okay, two things. First, I have a problem I'd like to admit... I have accidentally named one of the characters wrong. I'm surprised no one told me... o.O You know Koga's two buddy, Ginta and Hakku? Well, Hakku isn't the guys real name. In all my stupidness, I didn't bother to check if I got the name right when I started the story. His real name is _Hakaku_... and for extra info, he's the one with the mohawk. Even though he's probably never showing up in the story again, I thought I might as well tell you, and if he does show up in the story again, I can't guarantee that I'll correct it because I don't want to confuse anybody. So, if you were wondering, in my Kagome and Koga story "Compromise," it will be changed... (sigh) first I delete a chapter and then I misname a character.**

**And second, I'd like to know if you guys want Koga and Sango to get together. If you do, please put it in your reveiw! **

**So, thank you for putting up with me throught my stupidness, and please continue reading. REVEIW PLEASE!**

* * *

**Edited material This wasn't a very big edit, but in the fight scene with our new character, she went after Kagome, didn't she? Here's the original paragraph.**

_Then he heard a soft laugh, turning his body towards his opponent, whom was behind him. She was there, behind Kagome, fighting her. Kagome had used Tetsusaiga to defend herself, trying to stop the two swords that were grinding against Tetsusaiga. This was dangerous now, for Kagome didn't know how to control her miko power, and it was going every which way, Kagome not even knowing that she was using it. She could easily hurt him by accidentally purifying him, and she had no idea that she could._

**Well, how in the world did Kagome get a hold of Tetsusaiga if Sesshomaru had it? Originally, when our newcomer attacked with the red "arrows," I was going to have Sesshomaru toss the sword to Kagome, so it would protect her, but I went back and edited that out before it was posted, and I missed this. So, I just decided I would fix it, to make sure I wouldn't cause unintentional (spelling?) confusion. Thanks for putting up with me... again.**_  
_


	12. Memories and Feelings

Kagome leaned up to the tree nearest to her, bending over and throwing up, her dripping wet hair held in a ponytail on the back of her hair. Ever since that girl had left them earlier, she couldn't help but feeling sick and worried. How could she not feel worried though? Naraku knew she was pregnant now… and what if he used that against them? Wait, what was she thinking, of course he would use that against them. He would do anything to make them weaker, or to hurt them, just like he always had. And this time, there was much more to be afraid of.

But, as she let the feeling of sickness leave her mind, she stood up straight, wiping her mouth off with her hand. Luckily for her, only Sango had noticed since they had just exited a hot springs, and the demon slayer had left her be. So, dipping her hands back in the water, she was left to her thoughts. Yet, even as they began to walk back to camp, Kagome couldn't help but feel sick again. She couldn't get her mind off of that fear, and somehow, she thought herself weak because of it. This is what Naraku wanted her to do, to fear him and his actions even before they happened. And she was falling right into his mental game. Naraku was a master at psychological pain, and she was just helping him along when she acted like this. But, she couldn't help it. She was soon to be a mother, and her baby was in danger.

And before she knew it, she was sitting beside Rin once again, the little girl snuggling up beside her. Somehow, the presence of Rin comforted her. That little was so oblivious to the world, even though she traveled with Sesshomaru, so much so that she could comfort anyone by just sitting next to them. She was calm and happy all the time, and she always tried to see the brighter side of life, just like Kagome would do at times. But yet, Rin had been through so much. She had died and lost her family, and yet, she could do nothing but smile and laugh.

But, could that last forever?

Kagome tried not to think about it. She didn't want to think about it. All that was ahead of her was sadness, and right now, she couldn't be thinking about that. So she turned her attention to her surroundings, looking around the fireless camp with little interest. There was Sesshomaru to her right, the inu yokai a ways off from where she sat as he closed his eyes. Then there was Sango, leaning up against Koga as she sat on the opposite side of the clearing, his arm draped over her shoulder.

Kagome couldn't help but smile. Sango was falling in love with Koga, and Koga was falling in love with Sango, they just wouldn't admit it to each other. This was what had happened with Miroku and Sango, so it was all too obvious. But, none the less, this was exactly what Sango needed. She needed someone other than Kagome to comfort her, and luckily, Koga was there for her. Kagome wasn't sure how it had happened exactly, but she didn't really care and she wouldn't care as long as her friend was happy.

But still, she never would have imagined Sango and Koga together.

And as the night wore on Kagome found that she couldn't sleep, her mind too preoccupied by other things. She couldn't stop thinking about Naraku for some reason, and it was worrying her. If she kept on thinking like this, she was playing right into his hands. And if she did that, she might as well be dead.

"Do you think that this Sesshomaru would allow you to fall into Naraku's hands, miko?" Sesshomaru said smoothly, not bothering to look at her.

Kagome looked up then, directing her gaze to Sesshomaru.

"Little harm will befall you while you are with this Sesshomaru, miko. Stop worrying and sleep."

* * *

The following day was just as dull as the others, except this time, Kagome wasn't as quiet as she usually was. For some reason she found herself a bit more talkative than usual, making Rin quite happy, and she was actually holding a conversation. So there she was, talking to people, truly happy for the first time in weeks. She spoke to Sango and Koga, including Rin in the conversations as much as she could, laughing and smiling. And, in front of the group walked Sesshomaru, whom remained quiet the whole time. Inwardly, he was slightly glad that Kagome was enjoying herself, yet again unsure why he felt this way. But, for his own "safety," he strayed from all thoughts that included her in any way. 

Yet, no matter what he did to ignore her, those words his brother had said still haunted him, the memory of the dream pushing through the bars of his well confined thoughts and feelings. And as that memory escaped its chains, so did others.

- # - # - # - # -

_The right side of his face still stung as the poison started to run through his veins, though it would effect him none since he had immunity to it, a strange, foreign expression of shock on his face. His mother was staring down, almost eye to eye with him, her gaze cutting through the air like razors, telling him she was in no mood to be trifled with. _

"_How dare you!" She raged, her hand falling back to her side, "You dare to oppose your father! You are never to follow him without permission—" _

"_You'd be following him as well, mother. Considering that you knew where he was going." Sesshomaru said calmly, interrupting her._

"_I know where he is going, my insolent son. He's running off to that mortal woman, no doubt. He likes to think that it's a secret. Yet, no matter what he likes to think, you are in no position to follow him! I was under the impression that I had taught you your place in this world, Sesshomaru."_

"_Do you not understand that once the other clan leaders find out about this father is as good as dead?"_

"_Yes, I know. As does he–"_

"_This conversation is pointless, mother. I followed him not a week ago, it is in the past now, leave it be." Then Sesshomaru left his mother's castle in the darkness of the night, following after his father and making the decision never to return to the castle where he grew up, ignoring his past._

_And he never did find his father. The last time they had spoken, the Lord of the Western Lands had run off to the mortal woman's home, suspecting that she was in childbirth. And after a week, the young taiyokai found Tenseiga pinned to a tree, with a crudely written sign with it. Granted he wasn't very happy, he still took the sword of healing, beginning to search out his hanyo half-brother._

_Even though it took him years to find the little one, he eventually did, gazing upon the red clad child for the first time as the hanyo cried._

"_Demons don't cry, you know." Sesshomaru had said as he walked into the small clearing, eyeing the tombstone the little one was kneeling next to._

_The hanyo then whipped his head around to face Sesshomaru, his eyes red and puffy and cheeks tear streaked._

"_Who… who are you?" there was fear in the little one's eyes as he spoke, and Sesshomaru noticed this, noting that he should use this to his advantage._

_Then, in a split second, the hanyo was suspended in air, held in a death grip by the neck. He automatically started kicking and struggling, actually managing to bite down on Sesshomaru's hand, refusing to let go. He only managed to get a smirk from his older brother._

"_I am someone you should fear, baby brother. Remember me, remember my face. Burn me into your memory and never forget me."_

"…_b…brother?" InuYasha muttered through his hold on Sesshomaru's hand._

"_Yes, little one. Brother. But you should never, for a second, think that I will take care of you. I will kill you one day, baby brother. All I need now is your name."_

"_Inu… Inu…Yasha…" the little one mumbled, suddenly dropped unceremoniously on the ground, his hold on his brother's now bleeding hand gone._

"_InuYasha." Sesshomaru said with an icy edge, staring down at the hanyo, "Burn me into your memory, and never forget me. Fear me, baby brother, for this is the only time that we will meet and you will survive."_

- # - # - # - # -

Sesshomaru forced the memory back, trying not to reminisce on anything. Yes, his father had been an idiot. Yes, his mother wasn't exactly the loving type. Yes, he had threatened a child so long ago. So what? Was he suddenly supposed to care? He never had, and he never would. His memories contained the past, not the present. There was no reason to linger over them; much less of a reason to regret that he hadn't cared. Just as he was incapable of loving, he was nearly incapable of caring. Caring wasn't something he did often. It was true that he had, in the past, cared about Rin's safety. But even now, he wasn't sure why he had even cared back then. Yet, now, in the present, there was another possibility. Could you say that he cared about Kagome?

He forced himself to think that he didn't. But, deep down in his ice cold heart, he knew that he did. He didn't know why, but when that woman had attacked her, something in his mind had clicked. He felt something that he couldn't describe, a feeling he had never felt.

Sesshomaru didn't know what it was because he had never experienced fear. True fear.

He had been… "afraid" for Kagome's safety then, fearing that she had met her end, even though it was quite obvious that she hadn't. There was something else that was bothering him as well. There was another feeling that was growing stronger by each passing day as well, but he didn't know what it was either.

* * *

"So…" Kagome said, looking over at her friend as she turned her head away from the spaced out wolf yokai, "You've got a crush on Koga, don't you." 

Sango made a weird noise and looked over at Kagome, blushing, then quickly turned her head the other way and muttered something along the lines of "are you crazy."

That just made Kagome laugh, "You do, don't you?"

Then Sango looked at her friend once again, this time with a sad look on her face. Kagome automatically knew what was on the demon slayer's mind, and began to try to comfort her.

"You do know that he would want you to be happy, right?"

"I know… it's just… I feel like I'm betraying his memory by liking someone else… and that's the last thing I want to do to him, Kagome."

"And he knows that, Sango. Miroku is a person that, even in death, would wish for other people's happiness, not his own. I can tell you that he wants you to be happy, and that he wants you to move on, just like InuYasha wants me to. I know it's hard to just let go, Sango. But letting go doesn't mean forgetting."

Sango then nodded, understanding her friend's words. She was right. But then again… could she just start all over?

"Sango, everything starts slowly. But to start something, you have to make an effort."

"I know." Sango agreed nodding.

"Which means…" Kagome let a mischievous smirk cross her features.

"Kagome, don't you dare!" Sango whispered harshly as the smile returned to her face.

* * *

Koga walked along silently, not five paces behind the two girls, lost in thought. He was glad that Kagome was smiling again, glad that she was returning to her old self, but he wasn't all that excited like he thought he would be. He had thought that once Kagome had healed at least a little, he would continue to pursue her, he would try to help her deal with InuYasha's death... but he didn't want to now. 

He wasn't interested in her anymore.

"Koga," Kagome said, turning around, "Stop spacing out and come over here."

And as he turned his head to look at her, he saw Sango punch Kagome lightly in the arm as she blushed lightly; a little surprised that Sango actually could blush. It wasn't something he would think she would do.

What had they been talking about?

The conversation they included him in wasn't really interesting, but he talked with them, taking a blind eye to the way Sango was acting, and just tried to enjoy it. And before he knew it, night had fallen, and they had all stopped talking, falling silent in the darkness. There weren't any demons near them, none that they should be worrying about at least, so he wasn't too worried about being ambushed. And, from what it looked like, neither was Sesshomaru.

Yet still, Koga couldn't help being a little too cautious. That woman who had appeared to them, the one who was a match to Sesshomaru, haunted him. Was Naraku truly gaining that much power? If he really was, how could they defeat him? He knew that only time would tell, but still, he couldn't help but feel nervous.

* * *

Naraku stared out the window, the sun's rays warming his skin, lost in thought. He had gained a great deal of information from his newest minion, whom which he was very happy with, a he was trying to figure out how he could use it to his advantage. Well, it wasn't that hard to figure out how, actually. Kagome was pregnant and Sesshomaru was feeling a bit protective of her. It wasn't that hard to figure out what to do, it was how to do it. All he needed was to put her unborn child in danger again, except this time, a danger that Sesshomaru couldn't save it from. 

In other words, he needed to kill the baby without killing Kagome.

That was easy enough, but he wasn't about to just go out and find them, threaten Kagome on Sesshomaru's land, and expect to get away unscathed. He had to get them on his land, somewhere where he had the advantage. He had to get them here, where he was sitting. But that wasn't all that easy. Sesshomaru wasn't as hard-headed as InuYasha; he wouldn't just walk into a trap while brandishing a sword wildly. Sesshomaru actually thought things through.

"You wanted me?" spoke a smooth, female voice from the doorway, Naraku having been too lost in thought to notice that his door had been open.

"…Yes. Have you recovered from your battle with Sesshomaru, Mine?" Naraku replied after a short hesitation.

"Does it look like it, all seeing one?" She replied in a cold edged, mocking tone.

That was when he turned his head to look at her, now understanding how stupid of a question he had asked. She no longer stood tall as she usually did, she was bending over, using the door frame for support, while she stood there with only blood stained bandages concealing her chest, her kimono top hanging around her waist as it stayed tucked into her pants.

"Fine then. When you feel that you are… _able _to fight, go after Sesshomaru—"

"Again?" she interrupted with a sigh.

"Yes, again." Naraku said with a slightly annoyed tone, "Go after him and his little group and find a way to get them here, whether you have to tell them where I am or lure them here with lies."

"Let me understand this clearly, just to make sure your not out of your mind," Naraku glared at her as she spoke, "You want your enemies to come here, while you are nearing your 'problem,' and you plan to fight them?"

"Don't question my methods." He snapped, "Now get out of my sight."

"Fine, master." The girl said, using mocking tones on her last word, then leaving the room and shutting the door behind her.

_Maybe she's not as rebellious as Kagura, _Naraku thought bitterly, _but she's still a pain in ass to deal with._

* * *

**A.N. PLEASE READ! (Sorry for the short chapter as well)  
**

**Okay first, just to clear confusion, i did not write "mine," I wrote "Mine." (Me-nay is how you pronounce it) Just like Mine, Ayame's shop employee, in Fruits Basket.**

**And second... I hate having to ask this from you guys. I kinda need a little help. Every time I write a chapter, I have a strange feeling that I'm writing myself into a corner. That's why this chapter is so short; I felt like I was stuck and couldn't write much more. So, for all those authors out there who read this, what do you do when this happens? I really, really, don't want to have to give up on the story because I feel trapped and unable to go anywhere. So, I'm begging, pleading, for some advice. Dudes and Dudettes, I'm desperate. I've been looking in _Harry Potter Books _for writing tips! ...kinda sad, is it not?**

**So, if you have any advice what-so-ever, please write in a review.**

**And I promise you that the next chapter will be the longest yet... probably. **


	13. Discarded Hearts

It was night once again in Naraku's castle, but tonight, everything was different. The shields were down, Kanna and Mine were both unconscious, Naraku was nowhere to be seen, and no yokai lingered on the castle grounds. Instead, where Naraku would usually sit during the nights, lay something disgusting and gruesome that was moving and slithering, something that could be classified as a limb tearing its own… body apart, discarding some things and placing other things on another part of its body during the process. There were pieces of bodies scattered everywhere, some full bodies as well, and they were all twitching and moving, but not getting up. They weren't alive anymore. They were just… preserved carcasses.

The black, tar-like limb came down upon one body, a body somehow different from all the others, and hesitated before it picked it up. But, none the less, it did, the man falling absolutely limp as his black hair caught to the sticky substance that was the limb. He was then, unceremoniously thrown against the opposite wall, nothing happening for a long, silent, moment.

Then, suddenly, there was an ear-shattering yell that came from a head amongst the mess, this head connected in a different way than the other bodies and body parts. And it continued to scream, the mess beginning to bubble and change form. Then, as the yell ensued, it was no more. The yell stopped. The only thing that was left there was the man, on the opposite side of the room, now stirring, and another man, in a heap and panting where the shadows were the darkest. And for a long time, nothing happened. All that could be heard was the second man's panting and the occasional rustle of tree leaves outside. Then, after a while, the second man lifted his head, his panting gone.

In the light of the moon that shown through the window, you could see Naraku's new face – his own face. He looked almost the same, but there was just something different about it. Something small, but something you couldn't quite put your finger on. Then, a smile passed along his face.

He'd done it.

"Well?" asked Mine from the door, her voice loud and her hair a complete mess.

But he didn't need to answer her. She had scanned the room, and the moment she saw that man across the way, a deadly smile crossing her face. He was standing, his eyes wide in shock and confusion. He was like no other of Naraku's detachments, and you could tell that from looking at him. He had no ties to Naraku what-so-ever, he was cut off from the man who had brought him back to life, and he was afraid for his life. He had full knowing of what Naraku's intentions were; he knew what would be coming his way. So he ran. He was strong and the walls were weak at the moment, so he broke through them and ran for it. But, in fear, he continued to stumble and loose his footing down the mountain trail. That was his weakness. Human emotion. There wasn't a trace of yokai in this man; he was a mortal through and through. And the fear in his mind and heart was what was slowing him, causing his judgment to be mistaken. That was what would make him easy bait.

---

Mine didn't even have to run at all. She just followed him by transporting to where he was about every couple minutes, amused by his fear of her and his fear of death. She let him suffer for a while, making sure he knew that she was right on his heels the whole time, throwing attacks that purposely missed him every once in a while. And she loved it the whole time. His fear gave her the pleasure of the chase, and she let him run away for a good thirty minutes. But, when she tired, she took him down. She gave him a slow death, a painful death.

So, in the end, she left him dying against a tree, his bleeding sight laughable to her eyes. Onigumo was dying. Naraku was a full yokai. What could be better for her?

* * *

It was night once more, and the group walked along the mountain path quietly. It had been weeks of walking since their last run in with Naraku's newest detachment, but no one was really complaining. In all that time, Kagome had developed and almost mastered a few new miko powers, such as healing, with the help of both Sango and Koga, Sesshomaru sometimes stepping in to help. And with the new learned power of healing, Sango's arm had been healed by Kagome, a little impressive since it had been her first try actually using it. 

But now, that wasn't really on anyone's mind. The demon clouds were denser here, darker and stronger, and they all were nervous that they actually were on the right path. It wasn't like they didn't want to find Naraku; it was that they were all so nervous. They knew this battle was going to be the toughest by far, and they knew it was going to be the last one. They weren't going to let him run away anymore; they were going to put this all to an end the next time they laid eyes on him. And, this time, there was a lot more to fight for, but also a lot more to fear. They had to fight their hardest, and they couldn't let down on their attacks at any time… they had to fight to the death. But, none of them wanted to die.

Especially Sesshomaru.

But he knew he wasn't going to die. He had Tenseiga. But that wasn't the only reason why. He wasn't going to let himself die, because if he did, everyone would be in danger.

Kagome would be in danger.

---

She hugged her stomach again, for probably the hundredth time. She was afraid… afraid of Naraku for the first time in her travels. Before, she had always found comfort in her friends, in InuYasha, and she had always thought she would protect and be protected. She never realized that it wasn't that simple. This time InuYasha wasn't here. InuYasha had been killed.

When he had died, that was when she had realized that she could very well die. Before, she had held a feeling of invincibility. Who knew why she had, but now she didn't have that feeling.

…She felt horribly vulnerable.

But she didn't know why.

Sesshomaru was here, was he not? He had taken her under his protection. She trusted him. She cared for him. She knew that he would protect her. So, why did she feel this way? Maybe it was just because she was pregnant, or maybe it was because InuYasha, Miroku, and Shippo weren't here. Or, maybe, it was just because she was nervous and anxious.

What was it?

"Miko, come here." Sesshomaru suddenly said, speaking softly and smoothly, not bothering to look back at her.

She hastened to obey, noticing that Rin, Jaken, and Ah-Un fell back as she came up to him. Behind her, where she couldn't see, Koga and Sango did so a little bit too, Koga talking to Sango quietly so his attention was diverted and he couldn't really hear them.

"Yes, Sesshomaru-sama?" she asked curiously, looking up at him even though he wasn't looking at her.

"I told you to stop worrying."

She didn't reply, not sure what to say.

"No harm will befall you as long as you are in my care, miko."

"…It isn't me I worried about…" she muttered to herself, not really realizing she had said that out loud.

"Do you think I would let my half-brother's child die?" he asked in his velvet voice, now looking at her.

"No." she said quickly, speaking somewhat quietly, "I just can't help it… I can't stop worrying…"

He didn't reply right away this time, knowing fully well why she was worrying. She was going to be a mother, the mother of InuYasha's child, and InuYasha wouldn't be there to help her and Naraku was – most likely – going to try and kill that child. She had every right to be afraid.

"I can not stop your worrying, miko, but I can promise you that neither you nor your child will be harmed while you are in my care."

Kagome knew this, but that was all he ever said to her. She won't be physically hurt… he child will survive… she understood that. But could a man as cold as Sesshomaru understand what she was feeling? She doubted it right now. He may have taken her under his protection, for reasons she didn't know, but he was still the same, cold Sesshomaru she had met with InuYasha. Not much had changed. She hated having to remind herself that Sesshomaru was nothing like InuYasha. Sesshomaru didn't care. He didn't love. He barley ever showed emotion.

He was a living example of how different yokai were from humans. InuYasha had been the living example that yokai could get along with humans; that they weren't all that evil and coldhearted sometime. But Sesshomaru wasn't that way. He took the form of a human being, but she had seen his real form. A huge, wild dog, intent on killing anything that got in his way. He had an ice covered heart and a cold, dark soul. Kagome wanted to care for him, to consider him something like a friend, but she couldn't. Not when he was… what he was now.

"You don't believe me." it was more of a statement than a question.

"No, I believe you…"

"I'm just not InuYasha." Sesshomaru spoke these words softly and slowly, turning his golden eyes away from her face.

Kagome almost stopped in her tracks, but she kept on moving at the same pace, utterly surprised. How did he….?

"And I will never be him, miko. No one will be. He isn't going to come back to life. You have to get over his death and accept it if you ever want to move forward in your life. You will have to accept it before that child is born, miko, or you'll have an even harder time raising it." He said, speaking the harsh truth.

Then the silence thrived for a moment, Koga's and Sango's whisperings distant noises to their ears.

"….I'm sorry… for being this weak…" Kagome muttered after a while, breaking the silence between miko and yokai.

"You are human and you have your human emotions, it is not something to apologize for." Sesshomaru stated simply, still not looking at her.

Now she was confused. Just moments ago he seemed cold and unwelcoming, but now he seemed knowing and somewhat wise. But, before she could say another word, Sesshomaru stopped walking, making her stop about two paces ahead of him. He was looking over his shoulder, a faint, curious look on his face. Kagome looked back as well, turning around completely.

Sango was looking into what must be a small opening in the trees next to the path they were on, a horrified and confused look on her face. Koga, who was behind her, just looked confused, unaware of what she was so horrified about. So, out of pure curiosity, Kagome went over to her friend quickly, standing next to Koga. Then, upon looking at what was there, that same look fell upon her face.

There was a man lying there, dead, and both Kagome and Sango knew who he was and what he meant.

When they had first met him, he had called himself Muso. He had been a detachment of Naraku, the Saimyosho protecting him from Miroku's wind tunnel, and he had been quite the adversary, able to regenerate after all of InuYasha's attacks. But, in the end, he was revealed as Onigumo, the man who had allowed Naraku to be created fifty long years ago. And for the short time that they fought him, Naraku had been a full demon, having, almost literally, had an abortion of his mortal heart. And that was what was horrifying.

There he was again, just as he was before, but dead.

Onigumo was dead. Naraku's mortal heart was dead.

Naraku was, ultimately, a full demon. Their greatest fear had come true.

But, suddenly, Kagome was pulled away from the scene by Koga, whom had moved her out of Sesshomaru's path.

Sesshomaru had one of his swords drawn, apparently Tenseiga since the blade wasn't Tetsusaiga's huge one, and he was walking toward the body with the sword held downwards. But, when he stopped in front of the body, he did nothing for a moment, just looking at the corpse silently, thinking about something or another. Then, suddenly and in one fluid motion, Tenseiga was brought up, then slashed down right above Onigumo's body, not hitting anything to everyone else's eyes. But Sesshomaru had seen them as he gripped the hilt of Tenseiga; he had seen and disposed of the soul collectors that had come for Onigumo.

Someone that could tell them as much as they wanted to know was not staying dead if he could help it. Naraku's heart – Onigumo – knew what they needed to know. The only thing they really had to do was get him to tell them, and that would be fairly easy.

For a moment, nothing happened, though, and Sesshomaru wondered if it was impossible to bring him back to life, soul collectors or not. But, none the less, Onigumo began to stir. And when his eyes fluttered open, his body tensed in fear.

"Sess — Sesshomaru…" he said, his voice wavering in fear.

_So you know me? Then you might have more information than I thought…_

"Stand." Sesshomaru ordered after his short line of thought, his voice full of seriousness now.

But, instead of his orders being obeyed, Onigumo's whole body shook, and he fell unconscious.

"…Miko, tend to his wounds," Sesshomaru said finally, after a moment of uneasy silence, "He knows where Naraku is, don't let him die."

Kagome almost hesitated to follow orders, wanting to let Onigumo die rather than heal him. But, in the end, she kneeled next to him and started using her miko healing powers. And that was where they camped out that night, as Kagome worked on Onigumo's wounds, all of them wondering what was going to happen now. But there was only one thing that was on Kagome's mind.

Why was she doing this?

Onigumo was the sole reason Naraku lived today, the reason the murderer had even been born. And, ultimately, the reason InuYasha and the others were dead. And why had he gone to such lengths as to sell his soul for demons? For Kikyo, and she was the reincarnation of that damn woman… she shouldn't be here, healing him. She should be letting him die. She should have gone against Sesshomaru. She really should have. But now, it was too late. Onigumo had been healed almost completely.

---

Now, he was healed completely.

Onigumo's head rested in her lap, morning's light just breaking through the darkness, Kagome feeling a little drained from using as much miko energy as she had. But still, she stayed awake.

The moments passed by fairly slowly, until Onigumo began to stir.

From across the way, Sesshomaru looked over at the two.

"…K…Kikyo?" he asked warily, his voice sounding confused as he opened his eyes for the first time since his death, his vision obviously blurred.

_If he calls me that one more time, I'm gonna burn his eyes out. _Kagome thought bitterly, but she spoke with a soft voice, despite her voice.

"No, my name is Kagome."

At the sound of her name, he nearly jumped out of his skin, sitting up and starting reopen some of the wounds that weren't completely healed. He was afraid of her, but Kagome had no idea why.

"…Why… why did you help me?" he asked, nervous, the fear no longer existent, "I would have thought… with what happened to your friends…"

"Where is Naraku?" Sesshomaru asked, changing the subject for obvious reasons.

"I'm not going back there." Onigumo said automatically, now looking over at the taiyokai.

"I will not repeat myself."

"…He's… you're on the right path." Onigumo answered, struggling with his words.

"Not only are you on the right path," a woman answered from behind Sesshomaru, "You're never gonna make it there."

Then Sesshomaru was automatically on his feet, in front of Kagome and Onigumo, his mind racing, wondering why he hadn't sensed the woman there.

"You." He stated simply, glaring daggers at Naraku's detachment.

"Yes, me," she said, leaning up against the tree next to her, "I covered my scent, if you're wondering, but I'm going to assume you figured that out, Sesshomaru-sama. Oh, and my name is Mine, for your information, not 'you' "

"What do you want?"

"First it was Kagome, but now I want Onigumo. I could have sworn I killed him…" she said, her voice casual, her eyes lingering over to Tenseiga, "But I guess that effort was blown when you used your damn Tenseiga, Sesshomaru-sama. Oh, by the way, I'm curious. Have you mastered the Meidou Zangetsuha, yet, Sesshomaru-sama?"

Sesshomaru gave her a strange look, even though none of his facial features changed. He hadn't used that against Naraku yet. So, how did she even know about it?

"Wondering how I knew that Sesshomaru?" she asked in a strange tone, a smirk crossing her features.

He didn't answer her, just used his silence as a reply, as he usually did.

"Your mother really doesn't like you, I'm assuming. She told me all about Tenseiga. But, unfortunately, she didn't know much about Tetsusaiga. Oh, and she told me to say hello and that she only told me so you'd have something to keep your cold heart occupied."

Sesshomaru cursed his mother. He had never particularly liked her, even though she had been his mother, and she was known to mess with him every once in a while, but this was just cruel. She knew damn well that he had been having trouble with Naraku. She had enough sources to figure that out. If she wanted to play this way… He made a mental note to go pay her a visit after this was over. She wasn't going to get away with this.

"I think I've taken a certain liking to her, Sesshomaru-sama," Mine continued, "But, anyways, I think it might be time to dispose of Onigumo."

And that was when Onigumo got up and took off, running out of the small area and disappearing from sight.

"Again?" Mine sighed, looking a little bored, "That man has got a good set of legs…"

Then she started to run off after him, but Koga got in her way, his shikon shards making his speed just a bit faster than his.

"Ah, Koga… the wolf leader. Are you challenging me?" she asked, stopping inches in front of him, "If you couldn't defeat Kagura or Bankotsu, it wouldn't be the smartest move."

Koga replied with a growl and a look that could kill. How dare she use that damn wind sorceress against him. But, before he could retort, she had jumped to the side, and Sesshomaru was inches away from him, the taiyokai's talons shimmering with a deadly green poison. Koga automatically took off, going after Onigumo for the sole reason of getting to him before Mine did.

And as he left, Sesshomaru turned around, facing Mine and drawing Tenseiga.

"Do you wish to experience the power of my Meidou Zangetsuha then, since you seem so interested of its powers?" Sesshomaru asked with a deadly tone, preparing Tenseiga for an attack.

"Any other time, and I would, Sesshomaru-sama. Believe me. But right now, I've got to get that damn mortal." She said, even though she knew the question was rhetorical.

But Sesshomaru didn't hesitate. And even though he didn't hesitate, he didn't move. All he did was swing Tenseiga's blade horizontally in front of him, and a complete, black circle erupted from the blade, traveling at intense speeds towards Mine. Although Sesshomaru knew that she very well could have dodged it with her demon speeds, she didn't, and was instead swallowed by the attack. Mine was gone, standing in the pits of hell that were filled with mortal's corpses, but Sesshomaru didn't move a muscle.

But after a couple minutes passed in uneasy silence, he moved and sheathed Tenseiga. True, it had been a little easy, but he was satisfied that she wasn't coming back right now.

Yet, he didn't know how wrong he was. The moment Koga returned with Onigumo, there was a sudden change in the area's air. Sesshomaru automatically put his hand on the hilt of Tetsusaiga, turning around, but he hadn't really needed to think he needed his sword all that quick.

There was Mine, dusting off her kimono, smiling like a little girl as something black disappeared behind her.

"That was friggen awesome, Sesshomaru!" She said excitedly, drawing her swords as she spoke, smiling like a child who had just got something she had wanted, "Thanks a lot for letting me see that!" but then her face changed to a look of boasting, "And now I have that ability, all thanks to you. That was the only reason Naraku created me, so I could learn the attacks of Tetsusaiga when they were used against me. Learn them and use them with my swords. Look."

Then she drew one of her swords from her side, looking at the blade with interest. It was black, but it was beginning to fade back to the blade's original color.

"Now I can go visit the dead, but unfortunately," she looked at Kagome with an evil look, "You let Naraku get all the shards. If you hadn't, I would have stole them from you and brought back some of InuYasha's old rivals… or friends. Spice up the fight. But your 3 wouldn't do much; they'd only be strong enough to bring back one person… Did you know that it takes an extra jewel shard after every time you bring someone back to life with, or without, the shikon no tama? Take Kohaku for example. It would take two shards to bring him back if he were killed again."

Sesshomaru, whom was getting bored with all the conversation coming out of Mine's mouth, began to speak.

"Do you have anything better to do than bore me? Leave, or fight." His voice was deadly.

She suddenly acted very childish and stuck her tongue out at him, giving Sesshomaru the sudden wanting to rip it out of her mouth, and made a noise.

"Don't get me wrong, Sesshomaru-sama. I would fight you, but now I have to report back to Naraku… ughhh… so boring." She said, not acting so childish anymore and sheathing her sword as a Meidou appeared behind her, "See you later then."

Then she stepped into the darkness of hell, muttering something about how she had a quick way to transport at least, and the Meidou closed behind her.

Sesshomaru cursed. She could absorb attacks and use them. Damn it. That took away his advantage of his knowledge of Tetsusaiga. If he used something new, it would only be absorbed and reused against him. And now she could use the Meidou Zangetsuha, not only as an attack, but as a transport system. Damn it all to hell. But, beside that little dilemma, he had another on his hands. Onigumo.

"Damn it!" Koga was cursing, gripping tighter to Onigumo's arms as the man struggled, "Stop struggling! She's gone!"

"I… Don't… Give… A… Crap…" Onigumo said through clenched teeth, still struggling, "I was… Naraku… Once… He's going… to come… after… me."

Koga only gripped harder on the man as he continued to struggle, Onigumo having a surprising amount of strength. But, his struggling was put to a stop when Sango came in front of the two and simply hit a spot on Onigumo's body, making him fall limp almost automatically. But, even though Onigumo was limp and couldn't really move his body, he was still conscious.

"Mortal," Sesshomaru spoke coldly from across the way, "You are staying with this group until we find Naraku. If you try to escape, you will regret it."

"I'll just kill myself then." Onigumo said quietly, not intending for anyone to hear him.

"Then I'll resurrect you, and you will regret that you ever wished for death," Sesshomaru threatened in a deadly voice, even though he knew Tenseiga wouldn't bring him back.

Tenseiga only brought people back to life once, and Onigumo had already died once. So, if he killed himself, they were screwed. But Sesshomaru knew from experience that when he threatened someone like he just had, they usually didn't dare go against him.

* * *

Naraku smirked. Now he had the power to enter hell; that would come in handy. Of course, Sesshomaru was to thank for this "gift," so he noted to thank him upon their next encounter. 

But Onigumo was still alive, and possibly traveling with Sesshomaru. That wasn't good. Yet, it wouldn't do much against him. This only meant Mine wouldn't have to lure them here, Onigumo would simply lead them to where he was, and that was exactly what he wanted. But then again, Onigumo's information would kill the element of surprise. He didn't have anything left to hide now, so there would be little to no surprises left in store for his enemies. Onigumo had been a part of him, so he knew everything about him, and everything he was doing.

It was all coming to a close.

The final battle was coming, the battle where his enemies would fall or where he would leave this earth. But, if he were to die, he would not go alone. The miko would come with him, baby and all. He was sure of that.

But, if he won this war, Kagome would not die. He would keep the miko imprisoned within his castle, and he would allow that baby to be born. And when that baby was born, it would belong to him, no matter who it really belonged to. Then Kagome would leave this earth and go to InuYasha and Sesshomaru, her only child lost to the darkness of his yokai soul. And there would be nothing she, or anyone, could do about it.

He would rule upon this world for all eternity, becoming immortal with the power of the shikon no tama. Or, at least, he would try.

* * *

**A.N. Thank you! All of you! My writer's block dissapeared after I read your advice!**

**Oh, and on another note not really related to the story, I read something weird about the current state of Tenseiga and Tetsusaiga. Apparently, Tetsusaiga has absorbed the power of the Meidou Zangetsuha, and Sesshomaru has discarded Tenseiga... even though Rin has the sword since she didn't think it should be thrown away. He doesn't like the fact that Tenseiga was actually a cast off sword that was created for the sole purpose that it was too dangerous, at the time, for InuPapa to allow Tetsusaiga to hold the power of the Meidou Zangetsuha... O.o  
Poor Sesshomaru, first stuck with a sword he doesn't want, then he reforges Tenseiga to a sword he can use, then he finds out it was only built so InuYasha could have its power later.**

**Oh well, that's not in my story anyway. Check out Wikipedia for more info on the most recent events in the manga!  
**


	14. The Barrier

Onigumo was very quiet and timid, much to everyone's surprise, for the following days, ordered not to leave Ah-Un's back. He wouldn't talk to anybody, and often avoided looking at anyone, besides the occasional glances at Kagome that Sesshomaru had picked up on. Sesshomaru, on the other hand, wasn't feeling very talkative either. His mind was filled with the strategies of how to take out Naraku, and how to avenge his brother's death. He also tried to find the right strategy that would keep everyone alive, but he couldn't seem to find one. The only thing he could think of was to fight Naraku alone and leave the others behind somewhere where they would be safe from harm. But, he was pretty sure none of them would be happy with that answer. So, he just had to accept that when the battle came, not everyone may survive.

And those thoughts stayed with him until nightfall, when they camped out for probably the last time before they would meet Naraku. Everyone seemed to know that to, so they tried to ignore it. Instead of worrying, they laughed and talked in front of the fire they had brought to life. Even Rin decided to humor Jaken's picky attitude this night, instead of snapping out at him as she usually did.

Sesshomaru didn't join in though, he just watched the group with intense eyes from his seat against a tree. Onigumo was sitting next to Ah-Un, the two headed dragon seated on the ground, and he was half asleep.

Sesshomaru's eyes wandered to Kagome.

She was sitting next to Rin, whom she was tickling, and looked like she had not a care in the world. But Sesshomaru knew better than that. Kagome wasn't all that care free, she was afraid. The last time they had spoken he had though he may have hit an emotion when he had said that he wasn't InuYasha, but so far, she had seemingly accepted his words, understanding what he had meant.

For that he had been somewhat relieved.

Kagome, in the past, had not wanted to completely let go of her sorrow, and Sesshomaru had noticed this, even if the miko hadn't noticed it herself. But now, it seemed that she had let go and accepted his half-brother's death more than she had before, and that was the best thing she could do at the moment.

He noticed that Rin's laughter had died down, and now the little girl was lying in Kagome's lap, her face not in his vision. He was inwardly glad that Rin was happy with Kagome being here. But then again, she had been the only reason that Kagome was alive today. If Rin hadn't wanted Kagome to be alive as badly as she had, both Kagome and Kagome's child would be in the afterworld with InuYasha. In a way, Rin was the key to many of Sesshomaru's recent actions.

And, to believe that not a year ago Sesshomaru wouldn't have given a damn about any of these people with him, meaning, he wouldn't have given a damn about Kagome. He wouldn't have cared that she was dead, he would have left her there, and he wouldn't be searching for Naraku with the intent of avenging his brother's death.

Mortals and their emotions… was this why his father had loved them so?

---

"I wonder whatever happened to Kikyo…" Koga said, more to himself than to anyone else.

"What do you mean? You killed her, didn't you?" Sango asked, looking over at the wolf demon.

"Oh, yeah, you guys weren't there." Koga said, looking at everyone, remembering that neither he nor Sesshomaru had really spoken about their little run in with Naraku since everyone had been worried about their wounds, "With our last run in with Kikyo, it was really Naraku taking her form. I forgot that we never mentioned it."

"…Kikyo was killed." Onigumo suddenly spoke up, "Naraku lured her to his castle with the rumor that Kagome had killed InuYasha. When she showed up, he filled her mind with that lie then took her life when she wasn't expecting it… I remember the look on her face. From there he used the hatred in her heart once he absorbed her body to control her."

Kagome looked at him with a distant look. So, Kikyo was finally dead. What did that mean for her? She was with InuYasha now… at least he would be happy.

"Too bad," Koga stated, cutting off Kagome's train of thought as he looked up, "She would have been great when we fought Naraku…"

"No, she wouldn't have," Sango disagreed, "If she truly thought that Kagome had killed InuYasha, she would have gone after Kagome, not Naraku."

Koga fell silent then, staring up at the clouds above him.

And for a long time that silence stayed, no one speaking as they let themselves fall into their thoughts. Kagome looked back at Sesshomaru for a moment, and found that he was looking at her. Their eyes met. And for a moment, Kagome thought she had seen Sesshomaru's eyes soften. But she must have imagined it. The coldness was there, in his eyes. She found she couldn't remove her eyes from him; all she could do was stare into his golden eyes until he looked the other way.

_You're hiding something from the world around you, Sesshomaru-sama… but what is it?_

---

Soon, they were all resting, the night taking over. Rin was asleep next to Kagome, the little girl curled into a ball on the ground, and Kagome was half asleep. And for a long time, nothing happened. The silence just coated over the campsite, and a feeling of relaxation hovered over everybody. But, just when Kagome was about to doze off, Rin began to twitch and shudder in her sleep, obviously having something of a nightmare. The miko didn't want to wake the child, for that could just make it worse, so instead, she watched the child.

And for a while, Rin stayed asleep, occasionally moving or emitting a moan of pain. But then, suddenly, Rin shot up to her feet, her eyes filled with fear. Kagome tried to get the girl to come over to her, but the girl was gone to fast, running over to Sesshomaru and collapsing in his lap. Kagome watched nervously. What would Sesshomaru do?

She expected him to simply push the girl off of him, but instead, he laid an arm over her back, muttering something in her ear.

Kagome was utterly surprised. And for a moment she watched, but, in the end, she let out a warm smile. Sesshomaru definitely wasn't what he had first seemed to be. He did hide something beneath his cold mask, just as she had thought. Maybe he wasn't such a cold, heartless person that he appeared to be. Maybe he just didn't have anyone he trusted enough to reveal what he really was.

In the end, he probably wasn't as different from InuYasha as he thought.

When push came to shove and Naraku had been vanquished, Kagome suspected she'd meet a much different Sesshomaru.

* * *

Onigumo shivered involuntarily. 

"We're close," he muttered, "I can feel it."

Sesshomaru merely nodded and continued walking. He knew that much was true. He could feel Naraku's aura from here, even though he was obviously miles away, and the darkness of the day was an easy enough clue. For the past weeks, the days were dark as the night, only a faint light illuminating the world around them from behind the clouds. But what he hadn't expected was a clear passage there. He had expected demon attacks nearly every day, but none had come. Maybe that was good, or maybe that was bad. He didn't know, to tell the truth. He just continued to move forward, not stopping once.

Kagome, who was walking only a few paces behind him, let Rin rub her stomach again. Granted her stomach wasn't that big, there was now a small bump there, which Rin found absolutely awesome. The little girl was probably the most excited about having the baby come out of the whole group, but mostly because she was the most naïve. For all Kagome knew, she would perish in the upcoming battle. And, deep down, she wouldn't be surprised if she did. But, she tried not to think about it. She didn't want to think about something that sad and dark. She couldn't think about that. She had to think—to know—that she would survive and her child would be born. Otherwise, she might as well be dead.

Suddenly, the group stopped completely. Sesshomaru had stopped moving, and he was looking at something that was, apparently, invisible. He reached out in front of him, his facial expression not changing one bit, and Kagome could clearly see the barrier that his hand had passed through. But, he pulled his hand back, his expression strange.

Then, without warning, he pulled out Tetsusaiga, its blade red. But, even when he tried to break the barrier, nothing happened. He stuck out his hand again, and Kagome could still see where the barrier broke when he did stick out his hand.

Why didn't he just walk through the barrier?

"Miko, come here." Sesshomaru ordered, and Kagome hastened to obey.

"Stretch your hand through the barrier, if you can." He said once she was at his side.

She hesitated for a moment after he spoke, but she did obey, her hand going through the barrier effortlessly. But, after a couple of seconds, Kagome's hand began to feel strange. She stared at it for a moment, and almost pulled her hand back in shock. He nails were long… as long as Sesshomaru's. And on the very edge of her wrist that had penetrated, she saw a violet mark that was twisting around her wrist, looking as if it was to continue, but it was cut off from sight underneath her sleeves.

Sesshomaru pulled her hand back when he took her wrist. The moment her fingertips were back to normal, he let go.

"Jaken, take Rin away from here. Take Ah-Un. Onigumo, dismount." Almost immediately, Sesshomaru's orders were followed, and Koga took a spot behind the now standing Onigumo.

Sesshomaru then looked at the barrier once more, contemplating whether or not he wanted to proceed. But, in the end, he did.

Nothing happened for a moment after he passed through the once again invisible barrier, but then Sesshomaru's body let out an involuntary shudder, and his features began to change.

His hair was turning black, his left arm's markings disappearing and his nails shrinking, and, even though no one could see his face, the markings had disappeared and his eyes were now blue. Kagome felt his demonic aura almost disappear completely.

"Miko, walk through the barrier." Sesshomaru ordered after a moment, his voice lacking its usual coldness.

She hesitated once more, shocked at what she had just seen, and not sure that she would obey. But, she did, stepping through the barrier after inhaling a shaky breath.

And for a moment, nothing happened. Then her body was racked with a harsh pain, her body shaking as well. She looked down at her hands, which were changing. There were two violent markings that twisted around her wrists, disappearing underneath her sleeves, and her nails were just as long and sharp as Sesshomaru's. She looked at her hair, which was hanging down her chest. It was still black, but it was much silkier and smoother, and very strong by the look of it. She ran her hand down her cheek. She couldn't see it, but her eyes were now golden, and she had a violet streak on each side of her cheek, just like InuYasha had had, except hers weren't jagged like his.

Then, the shaking stopped, and she noticed that Sesshomaru was looking at her.

"Wolf, demon slayer… Onigumo." He said, not looking at her any more.

They followed, and went through the same changes as the others.

Koga didn't change much, besides the fact that his eyes turned brown and his tail disappeared, so he wasn't as shocked as the others.

Sango, on the other hand, was a different story.

She obtained black markings that twisted up her arms; two black markings on her face that started from underneath her bangs, traveling down the far sides of her face and curling to a stop a short distance away from the tip of her nose; and red eyes. And, along with these markings, her nails had become longer and dangerously sharp, and her hair had taken on red tips. She looked absolutely deadly.

Onigumo was the only one who didn't change what so ever. He seemed to be immune to the spell placed on the barrier.

"…Kagome…we're demons…" Sango managed to stutter, looking down at her hands in disbelief.

"Yes, and this Sesshomaru and Koga are mortals." Sesshomaru's voice, although missing its edge, was full of bitterness and anger.

Koga didn't look necessarily happy either.

"Why didn't you tell us about this, Onigumo?!" Koga snapped at the unaffected mortal, his brown eyes full of fire.

Onigumo flinched back.

"I'm cut off from Naraku," he said quickly, "I didn't know that this would be here. I don't know anything that he's done since he expelled me from his body."

Koga glared dangerously, but Sesshomaru didn't allow him to say anything more.

"We'll just have to make the best of this, wolf," Sesshomaru said in an undertone as he studied his hair, "I can't say I'm very happy about this either."

Then the former inu taiyokai drew Tetsusaiga, seeing if the sword would still transform while he was in this mortal form. And, much to his surprise, it did. Sesshomaru's first guess was that the sword still recognized him, but then he looked down at his left arm. It hadn't changed a bit, the hand still had its sharp, lethal nails, and the demonic aura was still flooding from it. It dawned on him. This was InuYasha's arm, and InuYasha was a hanyo. If this spell simply changed a demon's blood into mortal's blood and vice versa, a hanyo would be immune to it. This, ultimately, meant InuYasha's arm, Sesshomaru's left arm, wouldn't be affected. And this arm was the only reason he could even touch the Tetsusaiga.

Looking at the sword for a long moment before returning it to his waist, Sesshomaru began to walk again, motioning for the others to follow. They did, but Onigumo kept his distance from the pissed off Koga.

And after a moment of walking, Sesshomaru took a glance at Kagome. She was a fearsome site, and he knew this wasn't going to be the least bit easy. Everyone but Kagome could probably make it in these new forms, since their forms of attacking weren't really affected with this spell. Sango knew enough about demons to make it in her demonic form, and being a demon only made her attacks more deadly. Koga, demon or not, attacked with the power of the shikon shards. When they went through the barrier, the spell would not affect the shikon shards. Koga may be a bit slower than usual, but he could still perform his attacks as long as the shikon shards were still in his legs, granted they may be a bit weaker. He could still fight with Tetsusaiga, so he was fine, even though it would take a while to get used to the lack of power.

Kagome was the only problem. She used her miko powers in her arrows, and in being demon, could no longer use those powers. Miko power was meant to be used to purify demons, and could definitely not be used when you were a demon. So, now, her arrows would have little to no effect on Naraku or any of his minions or detachments.

The only way to be fully prepared was to reverse this spell or break the barrier, but how were they going to accomplish that?

* * *

Naraku let out a laugh. He was watching them through Kanna's mirror and he found them an absolute riot. Sesshomaru-sama, yokai lord of the Western Lands, was now a mortal? As was Koga, the wolf tribe leader. And the two girls were quite interesting. His spell made the form of mortals who had turned yokai reflect the true hatred in their hearts. Sango obviously had a dangerous amount of hatred stored in her heart that could actually make her a threat. But, for now, he pushed the thought to the back of his mind. All he really cared about was Onigumo. If the man even brushed against his skin Naraku would have ties to his old heart once more, and he would be full yokai no more. This meant he couldn't even kill him personally, so Mine would have to. 

And, speaking of the she-devil, she appeared at his doorway.

"What do you want now?" she sounded bored.

"May I ask why you always come before I call you?" Naraku asked curiously, purposely treading on her patience.

"I come because I hate hearing your annoying voice call my name," she snapped, "Now what do you want?"

"Go kill Onigumo."

"Hell no." she stated, with an incredulous tone.

"What?" Naraku asked slowly. The man was hardly ever disobeyed.

"I said no. I'm not going anywhere near that damn Sesshomaru. He's already pissed at me as it is."

"Why do you care?"

"Because I want to keep my head."

"Just go."

For a moment she did nothing, and then stuck her tongue out at him in a childish manner, disappearing into a recently opened Meidou behind her. As she left, Naraku thought he heard her mutter something about at least not having to fly everywhere she went.

* * *

Sesshomaru felt Tenseiga pulse, and he knew exactly what it meant. 

And sure enough, seconds later, Mine jumped out of a Meidou.

"Hello." She said casually, not looking at Sesshomaru, "I'm don't really want to be here, but orders are orders. I'm not here for you though. I'm supposed to kill Onigumo—"

Then she looked at Sesshomaru and burst out laughing.

"So—so that was—was what that bar—barrier was for!" She said between laughs, "That is so—so great! So how do y—you like being a mortal, Sesshomaru-sama?!"

Sesshomaru thought about growling, but turned against it when he realized it would just make him look worse, mostly because he couldn't really growl as a mortal. Koga, on the other hand, hadn't thought much about that aspect. His… "growl" had only made Mine take on another fit of laughs.

"N—Naraku actually picked a—a good spell this time!" She laughed, but suddenly quieted down and stood up straight, her expression serious, "Well, as much as I'd like to stay and laugh some more, I've got a job to do."

Suddenly she had her swords drawn, and she was behind Sesshomaru and Koga before they could blink, one of her swords through Onigumo's stomach. Then, a Meidou appeared, and she jumped in with Onigumo.

She was gone as quickly as she had appeared.

And with her disappearance, Sesshomaru realized how screwed they were right now. If that Mine girl could do that, and no one reacted, they were as good as dead. He would have reacted himself, he had tried, but his body had slowed him and his reflexes were even slower. And if neither Sango nor Kagome could think to react quickly enough, that was even worse. He had to keep in mind that, even though everyone's bodies had changed, they still held their own minds. He would still try to react as he always had, and Kagome wouldn't react, just as she always had.

He turned to the group, noting that they all looked as if they had came upon the same realization that he had, and spoke.

"If we want to defeat Naraku, we have to break this barrier."

* * *

Mine began to laugh again as she disposed of Onigumo's body, remembering Sesshomaru. And as she retreated back to the castle, she didn't stop. All she did was make her way towards Naraku's room, going to, for the first time, congratulate him. And when she appeared at his doorway, still laughing as she opened the door, he spoke. 

"Speak of the devil." He muttered, "Why are you laughing about?"

"Sesshomaru…" She said in a gasp for breath between fits of laughter, "What in—in the hells did you d—do to them?"

"It's a blood reversing spell, Mine."

"I—I was speaking the obvious." She said, still laughing, "That wa—was so rich! I couldn't believe the look on his face when he realized he could—couldn't keep up with me!"

"I'm glad you find it funny." Naraku said plainly, sarcasm dripping from his voice, "For it will only make this battle easier for us. Speaking of which, did you kill Onigumo?"

"Y—Yeah." Naraku wondered how she could stay laughing that long as she spoke, "Got rid of his body t—to."

Then, suddenly, she straightened up and her laughing ceased.

"So, do you think they'll find a way around your spell?"

"Most likely, but it is nice to give them a scare." He answered with half a mind, staring out his window as he memorized both Sango and Kagome's new demon auras that were radiating up the mountain.

"Hmmm… Red Tetsusaiga won't do it though, right?"

Naraku nodded absentmindedly.

"Then I'm interested in how they'll do it." And with those last words, Mine left the room.

* * *

Sesshomaru stared up at the cloudy sky, flexing his fingers. How he hated this. The feeling of having no power, of being vulnerable, was eating at his mind. He swore that Naraku would die a slow death for this. 

He almost jumped when Kagome came up beside him, but held back the urge.

"I'm useless now, aren't I?" she asked softly, looking up at him.

He looked down at her, "No. You just need to learn how to use your power."

"But I don't exactly have time to do that, do I?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Sesshomaru saw a crow demon perched nearby.

"Get your bow, miko." Sesshomaru ordered, coming to a halt as the rest followed the action, "Shoot at that crow yokai over there."

Kagome obeyed, but she didn't shoot right away. She could tell by just looking at it, that she wouldn't be able to hit the bird accurately without her miko powers.

"See if you can use your demonic power like you used your miko power," he said quietly, stepping to the side as she pointed the arrow at the bird, "Direct your demonic energy into the arrow, and fire it just like you would have before."

Kagome hesitated, searching for that flow of energy Sesshomaru had mentioned, and when she found it, shot the arrow as she moved that energy.

For a moment, the arrow did nothing as it flew, but then it took on a green hue, the arrow soon encased in a green glow. And the moment it hit the bird, it fell, beginning to dissolve from where the arrow had hit. Kagome found it hard to believe what had just happened. What had she done?

Sesshomaru smirked, recognizing the green color, knowing exactly what it was.

"A poison arrow by the looks of it, miko." He said, turning his gaze down towards her, "You are anything but useless."

Inside, Kagome blushed horribly, unaware that it wouldn't show externally. But still, she wondered why she had just blushed at his words. She had done that when InuYasha had praised her on anything, even though he had done that very little, so why was she doing it now?

This went unnoticed by Sesshomaru, though, who just started walking as the caravan followed his footsteps. Sesshomaru had no idea how disconnected he was going to be without his demonic powers.

* * *

**A.N. Sorry this isn't all that long, but, on the other hand, it was my quickest update! 3 days!**

* * *


	15. The Castle

She pondered over the things Kaede had told her about the properties of barriers long ago, hoping that she might find an answer in her memories. The elderly miko had said that all barriers had to hold a power, obviously, and that these powers usually lay inside an inanimate object or, in another case, the caster's body. Which meant, with Naraku, that the spider demon was either using the Shikon no Tama or his own power, but using his own power seemed a bit far fetched. It was true that Naraku was now a full yokai, but having power that was….that powerful? Kagome doubted even Sesshomaru could pull off such a feat without any extra help. It just seemed impossible. But still, Naraku was Naraku, and he almost always did something that was supposed to be impossible.

But, Kaede had also mentioned that if there was a spell cast upon the barrier, you simply had to destroy that object that held the barrier's power, meaning either the inanimate object or the caster himself. That much was obvious, though. So, now, they really only needed to find that object, assuming that it wasn't Naraku himself. But, if it was the Shikon no Tama, would they have to destroy it?

_Maybe…_ Kagome thought warily, answering her own question, _but maybe, since I am—no-- I was a miko, if I try to purify the jewel, and succeed, the spell will disappear. Right?_

Kagome shook her head in frustration. This was downright confusing. Not only was she now yokai, but she had little to fight against Naraku with, besides her "poison arrows." And Sesshomaru was in more of a dilemma than her. He could still use Tetsusaiga, no doubt, but he wasn't used to the limits of a human body. He could easily break a bone or give himself a fatal injury on accident if he miscalculated an attack, thinking that he could avoid it.

All in all, they were screwed.

_Dammit… _Kagome cursed, _I don't know what to do…_

She looked up at the cloudy sky a bit absentmindedly, thinking. What were they going to do? With this spell in effect… Then her eyes widened. Her baby. Had her baby been affected by this spell?

She put a hand to her stomach, hoping that nothing had happened. If anything had happened, she would kill that bastard Naraku, even if it was the last thing she did. Well… not the last thing she did, but still. She'd kill him if anything happened to her baby, then InuYasha would kick his ass after he died, even though the red clad hanyo knew nothing of the baby.

Kagome pushed the thoughts of InuYasha to the back of her mind, wanting to ignore them for the moment. Sadness wasn't what she needed right now.

"Kagome," Koga called from behind her, jogging slightly to get to her side.

"Yes, Koga?"

"…Do you… do you want my shards?" he asked quietly, not looking at her as he walked at her side.

Sango, who had heard him, whipped her head their way, just as shocked as Kagome was at his question.

"Koga…"

"You'll need them to complete the shikon jewel, won't you?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer, "You can have the shards in my legs once we defeat Naraku, Kagome, you do need them and I know you want them."

"…Thank you Koga." Kagome said quietly, looking up at him with grateful eyes, "You don't know how much that means to me."

And then silence lingered between the two of them, and Kagome got a strange feeling that he wanted to say something else, she could just tell he did.

"What is it?" she asked hesitantly, not sure if she should intrude upon his privacy.

But she knew him and he knew her. If there was ever something bothering him, he could confide in her, or he could keep it to himself.

"Would you be opposed to leaving the shikon jewel uncompleted?" he asked quietly, still not turning his gaze to her.

"Koga… what are you saying?"

"I'm wondering if you… if you could possibly…" he looked over at Sango, who didn't have her gaze towards him, but she was still listening, unknown to him, "If you could let Kohaku keep his shard."

Kagome stared at him for a moment, a bit shocked, but somewhere deep inside her, a smile flashed. He did care for Sango… and he cared enough to ask if her brother could be kept alive and out of harm.

"I can't make any promises, Koga."

"I know that… I just wondered…"

"But I would like it if Kohaku didn't have to die. The last think I would ever want to do is take away his shard, ending his life. I can't answer that until the moment comes… but I'd like to say that I wouldn't take it from him."

Koga smiled for a second, looking down at her.

"Thank you."

* * *

It didn't take them very long to catch the demonic aura of Naraku's castle, so the journey was promising to be very short, which wasn't really all that good. They were all still so weak in their new… bodies. So, tonight, they actually stopped to rest, even though Sesshomaru hadn't wanted to. But Kagome knew he was pushing his mortal form to its limit, and, knowing him, wouldn't dare to admit it. The last thing she wanted was for someone to get over exhausted, especially in Sesshomaru's case. 

So, as they sat there, on a rocky ground, no one spoke. There was no fire and they had eaten what they could find, so now, there was little for anyone to do. Kagome could feel the presence of yokai everywhere. It was crawling under her skin, making her mind go into defensive mode. She didn't like the feeling, and much preferred the way she had felt when she was a miko and demons were around. Then, she had been able to know and be wary, but now, she felt as if she needed to jump up and attack something… She felt the urge to kill… She felt blood thirsty…

"Miko," Sesshomaru called from his spot on the ground where he leaned up against a rock, the pelt he usually wore on his shoulder lying on the ground behind him, "Come here."

Kagome stood a bit too quickly as she made her way over to him, sitting down at his command.

"Yes?"

"Calm down." He said simply, not looking at her as he usually did.

"…What do you mean, Sesshomaru-sama?"

The taiyokai sighed inwardly, "There are yokai lurking around here, am I right?"

Kagome nodded.

"And you are feeling bloodthirsty. You want to jump up and kill every yokai that you can get a hold of."

She looked away from him, muttering a "yes."

"So calm down… If you are stuck as a yokai, you have to learn control. If you don't, you won't get any stronger. You will lose control the moment you come upon Naraku, I can promise you that. Yokai children have to learn control from the moment they can walk. Otherwise, they will act upon instinct only and fight blindly when in danger. And, in most cases, they will die." He paused, looking down at her with an intense stare, "You will die if you can not control yourself."

Kagome nodded in understanding, knowing what he said was true.

"Ignore the surrounding demons. Do not forget that they are there, but try to ignore your minds first instinct." He instructed, turning his gaze away from her, "Take control of your mind and your body."

And for a moment, Kagome felt a break from her mind's blood thirst as she followed his instructions, but as soon as she felt the relief, the feeling returned.

"Until we meet Naraku or we reverse this spell you will have this feeling, whether you are awake or not, miko. You will have to concentrate on your control and nothing else, or the feeling will return. Eventually, you will be able to have control and use it subconsciously. But that time is not now." He said, breaking the silence with his cold voice.

Kagome let a small sigh pass through her lips.

This sucked. This absolutely sucked.

And from there the night wore on, Kagome beginning to get the hang of this control thing by sometime around midnight. She couldn't exactly take her concentration off of it, but she was pretty sure she could hold a simple conversation, if it was one that didn't take to much thinking. A conversation one of her three air headed friends would stir up.

She looked over at Sesshomaru for a moment, going unnoticed because his eyes were closed. He wasn't asleep, she could tell that much, but at least he was resting. And for a moment, as she stared at him, strange realizations traveled into her head.

He was handsome… Very handsome.

She mentally smacked herself. Why had she thought that? The last time she could remember thinking like that was when she had first seen him, so long ago. But, why had she thought that after all this time being with him? Yes, there was no doubt that any girl at her school, or any girl in her time, would turn into a puddle of goo at the sight of him. Hell, her mother would probably freak. But why did she care? She didn't act like that. If anything, she had a certain respect for him. He had saved her life after all. But, she couldn't help but feel there was something more. Did she… could she have feelings for him?

_I can't. It… It wouldn't be right. I wouldn't let myself do that. I can't feel like that ever again. _She told herself sternly, trying to ignore what she had thought, _I love InuYasha._

But, deep down, her heart told her something different. That wasn't the case any longer. She may have loved him while he lived, but it was impossible to really love him now. She wouldn't ever forget him, she knew that, but she couldn't really keep a hold of those feelings any longer. What had she told Sango? What had InuYasha told her? She was told to move on, to let him go. But, if she was thinking that she had feelings for Sesshomaru, the ice cube of the Western Lands, that was a betrayal. Wasn't it?

_No… I loved InuYasha. I won't ever forget him, but he's gone. Now, I have only one reason I am still living. That reason is Sesshomaru. He saved me. And I can't lie to myself. I… care for him. I don't want anything to happen to him… ever._

She sighed once, rubbing her temples. Tonight was going to be a long night.

* * *

Naraku was ready for them, he didn't need to prepare. Mine was ready to fight. Kohaku was ready at his command. Kanna was fine. It just seemed to fall into place. 

They would be across from him, looking for a fight, in not two days. He couldn't wait to hear their screams of pain. But all his excitement was in one moment of the battle he knew would happen. He was ready to kill that little part demon baby in Kagome's stomach. He was ready to hear Kagome scream, he couldn't wait to see her blood and tears. He just couldn't wait.

He rolled the nearly completed shikon jewel in his palm, feeling the power radiate from it. It would soon be whole. He would soon have all the power he needed. The only thing that could make his day better was if he could get a hold of InuYasha's body. If he could do that, no one but Sesshomaru could attack him full force. He would have taken the hanyo's form and voice, making him nearly untouchable. Maybe, if he could have pulled it off, he would have been able to trick them into thinking InuYasha was actually alive.

But no, Sesshomaru had prevented that.

He had tried to get a hold of the body of the hanyo before, but that Damn Sesshomaru had made it nearly impossible. The barrier around that thing had been so damn strong. And each time he had tried to penetrate it different things had happened. He had been burned, shocked, cut, beaten, and slightly purified by the end of it, Mine laughing the whole time. It had, undoubtedly, been set by Sesshomaru, though Naraku had had no idea how he had done it. And he had thought Sesshomaru could have cared less. Now he knew that there was something about the two brother's relationship that he didn't know about.

But, either way, it didn't matter.

They would be here soon, and he would let them come in full power. He'd let them approach unscathed, then, they would die.

* * *

No Mine. No Naraku. No Kohaku. No yokai. No problems. 

What the hell was going on?

They were close now, too close to be comfortable. Sesshomaru couldn't help but grab the hilt of Tetsusaiga every five minutes, expecting something to jump out at them. But nothing did. What was Naraku playing at? This wasn't like him, to let them have a free path to him. There were no obstacles. It was just too easy.

Did he want them to get to him as soon as possible? Was he feeling that confident with himself?

It was just unsettling. They had expected obstacles that had no end. But this, this was just too weird. But, they couldn't do much about it. If he didn't want to attack them, they couldn't really complain. They just had to keep an eye out for anything else.

From there the day dragged on slowly, the dark castle soon coming into sight. And, with every step they took, it came closer. Kagome felt like turning on her heels and running from the place, running until she hit that barrier, until she returned to her human self. She'd run all the way back to the well, whether or not Sesshomaru was right behind her, and she'd return to her time. But, unfortunately, she couldn't do that. She knew she couldn't run from Naraku or Sesshomaru, she couldn't be a coward. She'd be letting them down. There was no way she was going to do that.

This is what they had worked for, what they had sacrificed everything for. They had done all sorts of things just to make it to this trail she now walked on, to be near Naraku, to fight the final battle. But Kagome had never pictured it this way. Long ago she had pictured herself riding on InuYasha's back, to have Shippo, Sango, Miroku, and Kirara following close behind. She had never imagined she'd be a demon, following a mortal Sesshomaru, with a mortal Koga and a demon Sango following behind her. Never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined this.

And, while she lost herself in thought, she forgot that the castle was so close. She had forgotten that there were other people around her. She just fell into a silence, trapped inside herself. She remembered her family, thinking about their smiling faces. She might never see them again, whether it was because she was killed or that she had to stay with Sesshomaru. And for the rest of the day that was where her thoughts lay, her legs just continuing to move subconsciously, following Sesshomaru.

And when her legs stopped moving at about the time she should be able to see the sun set if not for the clouds, she exited her mind, her eyes seeing where they were.

There were two doors, tall and wooden, standing in front of her, guarding off a castle. Her skin was beginning to crawl, the demonic aura strong and evil. She saw Sesshomaru, whom was at her side now, grabbing the hilt of Tetsusaiga. Behind her both Sango and Koga were preparing themselves, unsure of what was to come. Then those doors opened, making no sounds as they did, revealing a dark castle and something that lay on a stand, screaming, right in front of them.

It was a mortal baby, small and innocent, that lay on the pedestal, clothed in rags with short black hair. Kagome felt the power that radiated off of it, and knew what it was. This baby was the source of the barrier, the reason they were what they were now. Finding she couldn't look any longer, she turned her gaze away, knowing what would happen to the innocent thing.

Beside her, Sesshomaru's hand twitched. He had been trained not to harm children or babies unless it was necessary, but he knew what he had to do here. Even he, the great lord of the west, had a problem with killing children. It infringed on his honor in ways, to kill something so innocent. Even he had dared not to really harm InuYasha before the hanyo had reached maturity. But still, he had to do what he had to do.

Tetsusaiga was drawn slowly, but it wouldn't transform once taken from its master's side. Sesshomaru wasn't surprised by the least bit. Tetsusaiga wasn't built to kill humans; it was built to protect them. So, putting Tetsusaiga back at his hilt, he drew Tokijin. This sword was forged to kill…

Sesshomaru approached the baby, sword ready in his hand. And he brought it down upon the baby, his eyes not on the innocent thing.

Then Sesshomaru and everyone around him fell into a dark abyss, the surrounding castle disappearing into oblivion.

* * *

**A/N. Yes, I know, short... and maybe a mean ending for the chapter. I'm sorry I haven't updated in such a long time, forgive me please. Life has just been kicking me in the ass for nearly two months. But, oh well, its here now! Enjoy and review!**


	16. InuYasha and Tokijin

When the darkness disappeared, Sesshomaru no longer found himself in the castle grounds, the crying baby that had been in front of him gone. Behind him, a gust of wind picked up, blowing forward strands of strong, silky hair. He gazed at it for a minute, and then flexed his claws. He was yokai again, and only now did he notice how he had missed the demonic power.

But, there was something amiss. He could sense no one around him, meaning he was alone. The wind blew stronger, strangely empty of a scent and sound. There was definitely something that wasn't right here…

He looked around with alert eyes, taking in his surroundings. Suddenly the sounds and scents rushed to his mind, nearly overtaking him. The sounds of the ocean was crashing in his ears, the scents of people he hadn't thought of in the longest times coming to his sensitive nose.

He was gazing into the face of his father, whom was eye to eye with him. His mother was nearby, watching them with interest. His father had drawn Tetsusaiga, and Sesshomaru was holding a sword from his childhood that he had just now noticed.

…He remembered this… when he had challenged his father not a month before he would perish for InuYasha.

Involuntarily, Sesshomaru leapt forward, the demon finding that he couldn't control his movements. Was he reliving this memory?

He battled his father, who was outranking him, just like before, unable to control his movements. The memory flowed smoothly, but then something went horribly wrong. There was a move Sesshomaru remembered, when his father had won the battle, and it was about to come. But then, as the sword came at him, all scents changed. There was the scents darkness, evil, and hate that came out of nowhere, overtaking Sesshomaru completely. The scent of his mother disappeared, and this time, Sesshomaru didn't block that move.

The sword cut a jagged wound, Sesshomaru's flesh tearing and bleeding. It hurt, that much was true, but Sesshomaru didn't cry out. He was too surprised to do that. This wasn't how it had happened. He found he had all control over his body now, but he didn't move. The sword was still lodged in his side, his father unmoving with a look of blood thirst in his eyes.

"I will kill you, Sesshomaru," Naraku's voice rang out, even though it was his father's lips that were moving.

A growl escaped Sesshomaru.

What was this?

The sword was pulled from his side without care or ceremony, Sesshomaru making no sound. The next cut was clean, the sword stabbed through Sesshomaru's chest, not inches away from his demonic heart.

_Damn it…_

* * *

She stood alone, the baby's cry tearing at the insides of her skull. There were vines, moving on their own, that were crawling on the ground now, twisting and turning over the bodies of her friends and comrades. She'd seen this happen before, when they had run into Naraku so long ago, and Kikyo had taken the shikon no tama from her. 

Death by Illusion or the Illusionary Death. It was a spell Naraku had used, causing them to fall into a trance like sleep, to be taken by Illusion that would kill them, both mentally and physically. The first time it hadn't worked on Kagome because she was a miko. This time, it hadn't taken her, but as to why she didn't know.

Naraku's dark laugh suddenly rang out, sending a chill down her spine.

She was alone, and he was here. And, as her friends lay covered and trapped by vines under the influence of the spell, she was just as vulnerable as them.

* * *

A pain ran through her back, Kohaku's scythe lodged in her back. 

She was living this all over again. Except, this time, Kohaku didn't come to his senses. She was torn and ripped, bleeding. Kirara was beside her, dead as well.

There was nothing she could do.

A dark laugh echoed through the area, and she found herself standing, horrified at where she was.

"Run, Kagome!" InuYasha's voice rang out from in front of her, "Get away from here!"

Here she was, all over again, fighting the battle that only she and Kagome would escape from. She saw Miroku's body from the corner of her eye. Above her, she heard Kirara's cry of pain.

They were dying all around her, and she could do nothing.

Just like before.

* * *

Kagura's voice rang out, a laughter echoing through the night. 

They were dying, falling all around him, as the wind sliced them to pieces.

He wasn't really there, and he knew it, just watching what had really happened to his clan. Koga wanted to rip the demoness apart, wanted to avenge his comrades that had been killed.

And as they fell, he began to bleed, the blood falling from the corner of his mouth.

What was going on?

Then they were all gone, dead below him, Kagura having had her fun.

Then she turned on him, a glint of evil in her eyes.

* * *

Naraku picked the baby up, cradling it in the crook of his arm, looking at Kagome with a smirk. 

"Finally made it, did you?" he asked, his voice dark, "You expect to defeat me?"

Kagome didn't speak, just changed her expression to the one Sesshomaru usually wore. She couldn't show any emotion towards this man…

"I can see right through you Kagome," he laughed, "You are afraid of me. Afraid for your own life and your child's."

Kagome's hand twitched.

"And you fear for the lives of your friends, who are currently under my spell." He continued without pause, the baby now silent, "But you can't defeat me on your own, can you? And even with your friends, you will not be able to."

He paused briefly, gazing down upon Sesshomaru, Koga, and Sango, but continued quickly, his gaze back up at Kagome,

"The only chance you have is to kill this child."

Kagome's mind continued to run, but she felt as if she had frozen. Naraku knew she couldn't do this… Her grip on her bow tightened as Naraku laughed again.

"But the only one, out of all of you, who would be able to do that is Sesshomaru, am I right?" he asked with a smirk, "And since when does a mother to be kill a baby?"

Kagome's hand twitched. How could she kill a baby?

If she was able to, her arrows wouldn't even work, she was sure of that. They may not be powered by miko energy, but they weren't strong enough to penetrate the barrier Naraku had around him. And it wasn't like Tetsusaiga would transform for her. She was a demon, it would repel her.

The only thing that could kill that child was Tokijin… but if she touched that, its aura would take her over…

She was at a loss.

"You know, if you and your friends just surrendered right now your deaths would be quick and painless. You could even commit suicide and die honorably if you want to." Naraku said, breaking your train of thought, "And I wouldn't even kill you right away Kagome. I would allow you to have your child. But once it can survive on its own you can join InuYasha," he paused, watching her expression, "I'll take good care of your kid."

Kagome, who was now at her tempers end with his words, strung her bow in a blink of an eye and shot at Naraku. The arrow, glowing in green light, penetrated the barrier and pierced his shoulder.

The only reaction she got out of him was a smirk and an interested look at her arrow.

"If you wish to die, Kagome," he said slyly, "I will be glad to help you."

"I will not die here." She hissed in response, stringing another arrow.

Naraku laughed softly at her words. Apparently, InuYasha's and Sesshomaru's stubbornness had rubbed off on her.

"Mine," he called, "be so kind as to dispose of the others."

Then, behind him, Mine jumped out of a Meidou, a childish smile upon her face.

"Finally!" she cried, eyeing the body of Sesshomaru with a strange look, "I get to taste that bastards blood… wait… Naraku, once they die, the barriers effect wears off, right?"

"Yes."

"Good!" Then she leaped up into the air, falling towards Sesshomaru's body.

But Kagome got there first, her speed quicker. She kneeled next to Sesshomaru's body and drew the first sword she grabbed and swung at the incoming Mine, who was just in reach of the blade. Kagome heard an ear piercing scream as she saw Mine fall to the ground, the girl's stomach gushing blood. Sesshomaru twitched beside her, but she didn't notice. She was to busy paying attention to Mine. But then something came over her. The feeling of bloodlust, except a hundred times worse. And it wasn't bloodlust for many people, it was for one person.

Kagome gazed down at the heavy sword in her hands, watching the blade glow red.

It was Tokijin.

She stood slowly, unable to drop the sword. It was latched to her palm, glued there. She could feel its evil aura trying to break into her mind, but she wouldn't let it. She wouldn't be destroyed by the sword like Kaijinbo had. There was no way she'd let that happen. If she did, she wouldn't be the only one suffering. But the sword was just so strong, and it was obvious that it didn't like being parted from its master.

Yet, Tokijin knew what its master had intended seconds before he had been overcome. It knew what had to be done, and had absolutely no problem with it. He'd kill the small one, then destroy the one who dare try to wield him.

That was, if he could overcome this girl.

Kagome looked at Naraku again, surprised at the look on the spider yokai's face.

Naraku looked like he was enjoying the torture of his detachment, as if he was glad Kagome had shown her strength.

"Impressive Kagome," he said a bit mockingly, "But how long can you ignore the evil aura of that sword, I wonder. Did it not kill its creator?"

Kagome glared at him.

"I really don't care what this sword has done, Naraku." She hissed, the pain Tokijin's aura was giving her increasing, "But I do know that you will not harm Sesshomaru or the others. For, whether or not I can stand up to you, I know that this sword will not allow you to kill its master, and neither will I."

Her head was beginning to pulse; she could hear the blood running in her ears. Tokijin was about to overpower her, to destroy her, to use her.

But then, seconds before she thought she would break, it stopped, and Tokijin pulsed in her grip. It agreed with her. It would fight alongside her until its master recovered. But she had to allow it to help her.

Kagome opened her mind, letting the power flow in.

* * *

Sesshomaru dodged yet another of his father's attacks. He was bleeding, injured, and about to fall. He knew it. He wasn't as strong as his father, he was pretty sure he never would be. And now that was becoming real. A strange reality. 

His father was attacking without mercy, the whole world around them now an endless black. And suddenly, as he dodged yet another attack, something stopped him dead in his tracks, causing him to get a sword lodged in his collarbone. Something had been taken from him. He could tell. There was something missing from him, an aura that had followed him for so long suddenly missing.

When this had started he hadn't been wearing any of the swords he had come to wield, but he had been able to feel their presence. The clean aura of Tenseiga, the destructive aura of Tetsusaiga, and the blood thirsty aura of Tokijin had all been with him. But now Tokijin had disappeared, and Sesshomaru felt a small flicker of panic enter his mind. He was the only one who could wield Tokijin; he was the only one who could tame the evil of the sword's fang.

If the aura had disappeared, someone had taken his sword.

But who?

* * *

Mine cursed as Kagome dodged yet another attack, the former miko's eyes now a crimson red. She was just as talented and graceful as Sesshomaru now, but how she had done such a thing that had taken Sesshomaru his whole life to do was a mystery. But it definitely had something to do with that sword. 

The demoness spun in the air, landing on the ground gracefully while the girl in front of her landed just as gracefully, staring into her eyes. Mine thought she might be experiencing the feeling of fear right now, but she didn't have much time to find out. Kagome was running at her again.

Jumping up to dodge the attack, she summoned a Meidou and disappeared into it. She didn't care what Naraku said, she was getting the hell away from that chick.

Naraku, at the loss of his detachment, merely sighed. Mine usually did try to save her own hide, no matter what he said.

"Do you think I will die now, Naraku?" Kagome asked darkly, staring up at him with her crimson eyes as she came to a stop next to Sesshomaru.

"Yes," he answered coolly, "but it will just be more difficult to kill you now."

"You got that right." She muttered.

Tokijin pulsed in her hand again. It wanted her to allow it more room in her mind. She denied it access. The more power she handed over to the sword, the more risk she was at. She had already given the sword a considerable amount of power over her movements anyway. She had never been skilled with the sword, so she had no choice but to do so. If she hadn't, Mine would have killed her already.

She took a quick look at everybody. They had to snap out of this soon, or she would lose them…

Tokijin pulsed again, its aura going from determination to kill to excitement. It knew that it was time to kill the small one.

…_Only until you kill that baby._ Kagome told the sword as she opened her mind completely.

The sword agreed quickly, invading the girl's mind with haste.

Tokijin didn't care about the barrier Naraku had erected as it conducted the girl's movements like a puppet master, it only cared about what its master had wanted. The child would die one way or another, and then he would resume his place at Sesshomaru-sama's hip. He would win….

Then a clean cut was made, the power of the blade's aura overcoming that of the barrier's, and the child's scream was etched into Kagome's skull. But that didn't matter now. The moment the child was dead the barrier rejected her, breaking as it did so, sending her flying over the landscape where she skidded to a stop, still standing. From the pain of the barrier's force she didn't notice the pain of her mind and body as Tokijin's power faded away, her body changing in ever aspect.

Then she was a miko again, her palm sweaty on Tokijin's handle.

She felt dizzy, exhausted. The aura of Tokijin was beginning to take her over again since she was no longer demon and could no longer suppress it…

Then she felt a hand begin to pry her hand away from the sword, someone standing behind her as she fell against his armored chest. The aura was lifted off her shoulders as she ceased physical connection to the sword, and she felt as if she were about to faint. But she didn't… she couldn't…

"You did well, Kagome," Sesshomaru said quietly into her ear as he moved to her side, a hand on her back steadying her.

Around her, Koga was reawakening, as was Sango, and the vines were disappearing. The two stood up groggily, returning to their senses slowly. Kagome heard Koga let out a noise as he noticed that he was back to normal, apparently thrilled and excited. Sango was having a similar reaction as well, glad that she was back to normal.

"You're going down, Naraku!" Koga yelled, his energy returned.

"We will see, wolf," Naraku spat back, glaring daggers at the man, "But I think you are the one that will die here."

"I doubt that," Sesshomaru spoke, his hand still on Kagome's back, "for we have just robbed you of your biggest advantage."

"You may have done so, but now one of your fighters is exhausted and incapable of fighting—"

Kagome quickly strung a bow and shot it at him as a reply to his words, the glowing pink arrow missing him by inches.

"You wish."

Naraku sent an evil look her way as he rose from the ground, his body sprouting unidentifiable limbs and tentacles.

"You will all die here!" he yelled, his voice full of anger, confidence, and false victory.

And then many things happened at once.

Naraku aimed an attack at each one of them, his eyes everywhere at once. Sesshomaru jumped away from Kagome as he put Tokijin back at his waist and drew Tetsusaiga, dodging every attack coming his way. Koga and Sango were tag teaming, Sango using Hiraikotsu to hit away things in the wolf's path as he did for her. Kagome strung and arrow immediately, a bit lighter and quicker on her feet since the demon stage, and shot at things coming her way with a bit more miko power than usual, destroying anything that came into wide range of the pink miko power and the arrow.

She wasn't going to stand in the background this time. She was going to fight. She was going to protect herself this time.

A tentacle shot past her head, and as it recoiled, she hit it with her bow, which was now glowing with miko power as well. It fell to the ground, Naraku to busy to give her a dirty look because of his situation with Sesshomaru.

The yokai lord was giving him a hard time, leaving no openings and finding all of his. Naraku knew this wasn't going to go as he had planned, so he had to change everything. He had to get to Kagome as soon as possible.

Naraku, dodging an attack from Sesshomaru, opened up his fist and pointed his palm Kagome's way, a black light coming from it. But it was met with a miko arrow that had been shot at him not seconds before, and the only thing that happened was an explosion in mid air when the pink met the black.

"MINE, GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE!" Naraku yelled, pushing Sesshomaru back with a few of his tentacles.

Then she appeared, jumping out a Meidou, grimacing.

She cursed, and then went after Sesshomaru, her two swords drawn. Sesshomaru ignored Naraku and headed to meet her challenge, sheathing Tenseiga and drawing Tokijin. He smirked inwardly when he saw that she was afraid of the sword.

_Kagome must have done Tokijin justice if she struck fear into Mine's heart, _he thought with a smirk, feeling somewhat proud of the miko.

Their swords met with a clash, Mine forced to use both of her unnamed swords to block him. Sesshomaru, from the very beginning, knew he was going to win this battle. Mine was exhausted, the battle she must have had with Kagome tiring her. She was no match for him now.

* * *

Kagome dodged another attack aimed her way and cursed when she realized she was running out of arrows. If she didn't have arrows, all she had was a bow, and her bow was much easier to break than a sword. She half wished she had Tokijin again. But she couldn't dwell on the thoughts that would get her no where, now was not the time. She'd have to improvise somehow, to figure out a way around this… 

Then she ran to go help Sango and Koga, who weren't that far away. But, on her way there, she was reduced to a single arrow.

_Shit._

"You doin' ok Kagome!?" Koga asked with a devilish grin as she appeared next to Sango, hitting away another tentacle as they neared closer to Naraku.

"I'm good!" she called back, then turned to Sango, "Can I borrow your wakizashi? I've only got one arrow left."

Sango nodded absentmindedly as she handed Kagome her the half-length sword, hitting away a random demon with the Hiraikotsu. Kagome wasn't skilled with a sword, of course, but having used Tokijin, she thought she could at least defend herself. And she did, cutting the tentacles that were coming at her with ease, even though they weren't the cleanest cuts.

"Be careful Kagome," Sango warned from beside her, "Every hit you take the baby takes as well!"

"I know." She replied, "I've managed to dodge every—"

"What baby?!" Koga interrupted, yelling back to them.

Kagome couldn't help but laugh, she had forgotten to tell him!

"My baby Koga," she called in reply, "I'm pregnant!"

"What!!!?" he yelled in surprise, looking over his shoulder. Sango threw Hiraikotsu at the tentacles and demons that he had ignored in his surprise.

"Yes Koga," Kagome said as she chopped at a something or another that was trying to attack her, "I'm pregnant with InuYasha's baby! I'm sorry I forgot to tell you!!!"

Koga just gave her a bit of a sad look, and then smiled after a minute, turning back to the things in front of him.

"Congratulations!" he called, genuinely happy for her.

"Thanks!"

And then they battled in silence, sharing a grin with one another every once in a while. Soon finding themselves nearly face to face with Naraku.

* * *

Sesshomaru pulled his sword out of Mine's neck, letting the body fall to the ground with a thud. He smiled without humor, turning to Naraku. 

It was time to end this.

Koga, Sango, and Kagome were already fighting him face to face, Kagome wielding a wakizashi that was the demon hunters. He raised an eyebrow at this, but ignored it, charging Naraku. He was met with the yokai's tentacles, but they were easily blocked and disposed of. Naraku was preoccupied with the others, so this was easy for him.

"Back off!" he called to the others, and Koga quickly pulled the others away from the demon, landing a good distance away.

Then Sesshomaru unleashed all hell…

…and failed miserably.

The separately executed Backlash Wave, Wind Scar, and the Kongosoha were all absorbed into a suddenly appearing barrier, and Naraku was laughing.

"I will not lose!" he yelled with confidence, the barrier around him glowing.

Then Naraku unleashed all hell…

…and nearly won.

But Sesshomaru activated both Tenseiga's and Tetsusaiga's barriers at the exact same time and protected himself and his comrades, the shards of the Shikon no Tama in Koga's legs helping him along the way.

He heard Naraku curse loudly, using vocabulary that was most likely taken from InuYasha, and couldn't help but give a triumphant smirk. But that smirk faded away when he heard a familiar laugh beside him.

Turning his head slowly, he saw his half brother grinning stupidly, looking at Naraku with a blood thirsty look.

"I wish I could be here kicking his ass," said the hanyo, his voice strange, sounding as if his voice was sounding twice, like a distant echo for each word, "but, of course, I'm shit out of luck."

Sesshomaru took a quick glance at his comrades, and seeing that none of them were hurt, turned back to his half-brother.

"Are you real?" Sesshomaru asked slowly, beginning to run towards Naraku, his brother following in a float next to him.

"I'm as real as the soul collectors that Tenseiga allows you to see."

"Then why are you here?" he asked, dodging a tentacle coming his way.

"Because you are destined to fail if I were to leave you be."

"To fail?"

"Yes, to fail and to die, but I'm not going to let that happen." InuYasha explained, "And just so you know, I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing this for Kagome."

"I guessed as much."

"Now, if I were you I'd swallow my damn pride and listen," InuYasha continued, the demon that had flown through him going unnoticed, as was the sword that killed it half way through InuYasha's stomach, "I'm not going to be left out. I want a shot at this bastard too, you know."

"Always stubborn, aren't you?"

"Guess so. But, anyways, I want you to break Tetsusaiga."

"You want me to break my father's fang? The very sword I sought since the day father died, the sword I nearly killed you for?"

"You heard me. Now listen," InuYasha ordered with an annoyed glare, "Use all of Tetsusaiga's attacks at once. Give it everything you got. Lend the sword some of your own power as well. Even see if you can get Kagome to shoot an arrow into the attack as well."

"To use all of Tetsusaiga's powers at once is impossible; the sword would shatter even before the attack was let out. Everyone within a miles radius would die from the explosion."

"Exactly." InuYasha was grinning stupidly now.

"I'm finding it hard to see any sense in your logic, InuYasha."

"Can't you just trust me?"

Sesshomaru gave him a strange look, "Trust _you_?"

"God dammit, Sesshomaru!" InuYasha said angrily, watching his brother slice something or another that had tried to attack him, then fall back a bit, "Forget your grudge on me for a god damn second!! I'm dead! Just listen to me, for once in your god damn life! It isn't going to kill you!"

"In this case it could."

"Shut up, bastard! Just listen! Do you think I want you all to die?! Kagome is out there, PREGNANT with MY child! Do you think I would put them in any danger!!!?" InuYasha yelled, frustration written across his features, "JUST LISTEN!"

Sesshomaru paused for a moment, slightly shocked at his brother's outburst. Then, slowly, he nodded, sighing. Suddenly InuYasha was gone, and Tetsusaiga pulsed. Sesshomaru looked down at the sword he had wanted for so long, the sword he had finally obtained, and put all the trust he could into his younger half-brother.

"Kagome!" he called to the pregnant miko who was standing in the background, slashing at the demons who were intent on killing her, "Be ready to shoot!"

He watched as Kagome hastened to obey, Koga and Sango clearing a path for her to get to her discarded bow and arrow. They had to do this now, and they had to do this fast. Otherwise, Naraku would figure them out.

He raised Tetsusaiga, giving it a longing look. He was going to destroy the sword he had longed to have for so long… It pulsed in his hand and he heard InuYasha's voice.

…_When this is over, take care of them… Or, at least, let her return home safely…_

Sesshomaru nodded, respecting his brother for the first time in his long life. Today it was all going to end. It had to.

_Now let's kick that god damn bastard's ass!!_

Then he let his power flow into his Father's fang, allowing Tokijin's evil and Tenseiga's power to come as well. He saw the Wind Scar in front of him, he saw the demonic aura around Naraku, and he felt the power of the Kongosoha spreading through the sword. He felt the presence of his brother's hanyo powers and the adrenaline rushing through his own veins. He poured every angry emotion he had ever felt into the Tetsusaiga, every last emotion of hatred, anger, and blood lust exiting his mind. Then he raised the sword high, he heard his blood rushing in his ears, and then let the power leave in the final stroke of the almighty Tetsusaiga.

"Now!"

He saw the pink of Kagome's arrow merge with the tornado of power that he had produced, just before he could see nothing else but a the white explosion of Tetsusaiga's blade. Then Tenseiga's black barrier engulfed him, protecting him from its counterpart's explosion, and all he heard was the sound of Naraku's final moment. He would remember that scream the rest of him life…

…but then Kagome's scream of pain tore at his mind.

* * *

**A/N: I saw how mad you were with my last cliffy, so I just updated agian. But, yes, I had to do it again, of course. Just for fun... I think... DON'T HURT ME!!! (runs away, screaming "Please Review!" over shoulder)**

**(On the other hand, this was my quickest review... Less than 24 hours... i think...)**


	17. Kagome and the Castle of the West

Pain… Pain... Pain…

That was all she knew.

Kagome dropped to her knees, clutching her stomach, the pain seeping through her mind and through her body. She didn't know what was wrong. She didn't know what had happened. She had been blinded by Tetsusaiga, and then she had felt pain. Endless pain… Her mind was on fire, her body stabbed with a thousand invisible swords… She began to cry for the first time in a while, red hot tears trailing down her cheeks. She began to wish someone was at her side, she began to wish for InuYasha's touch... Sesshomaru's touch… anybody's touch…

Naraku had done this to her, hadn't he. Was that why a large tentacle now lay limp and lifeless as it curled around the area she knelt in?

A wave of pain crashed over her, a pain that she couldn't describe. It felt like something was being ripped from her… it felt like someone was trying to take something from her. Then new pain came into her body as something lodged itself into her back, that something sharp and meant to kill. She couldn't hear Sango's scream, only the gentle pulling of whatever was in her back, then the thing leaving her skin. Someone was in front of her now, someone with silver hair. The tears that blinded her didn't allow her to see his face, but she knew who he was.

He pulled her close, holding her in a protective and warm embrace, slowly making her stand. That was when she felt something warm run down her legs. That something was warm and sticky, thick and running fast, running down her legs, twirling around them. She knew what it was.

It was blood.

Pain came again, clawing at the inside of her stomach, screaming inside her mind. She clutched the rim of the armor she was leaning against, her knuckles turning white. She cried in response to this unfamiliar, inhumane pain. She didn't know what was happening to her, and that just made it worse. She remembered the baby, the baby that had been the barrier. She remembered its cries.

And then she knew she'd never hear her own child's cry.

* * *

Sesshomaru held Kagome close, ignoring the shocked cries of Kohaku, who had attacked Kagome on the last orders of his master. Koga didn't dare draw near, afraid, that if he did, he would hurt the miko he had come to love as a friend.

Kagome sobbed, and Sesshomaru knew that there was nothing he could do as he held the weeping girl. Her baby was dying, they both knew that. But there was nothing he could do. Tenseiga could only be used once on a person, and he had used that on the girl and her unborn child already. He couldn't do anything, and he realized that this was the first time in his life he felt useless. And he hated the feeling. He hated the tears as well. Naraku was dead, but he still left sadness behind. Was the spider demon ever to leave them?

Kagome began to cry harder, and Sesshomaru lay her down on the ground gently, kicking away the tentacle that had squeezed her child's life into nothingness. He looked at Sango and without words, told her to be with her friend. And she did so, passing off her now crying brother to the yokai lord. Sesshomaru couldn't stand to be by Kagome for some reason. To see her like this was ripping him apart for some reason that he didn't understand.

Kohaku cried more, but Sesshomaru merely stood there, his hands gripping the boy's shoulders, not allowing the boy to leave his grasp. He would have killed him then and there, but he knew Kohaku was merely trying to live out the orders that his master had given him. But soon, if the boy didn't calm, there will be little to no choice but to kill him.

"Is there no way to help her?" Koga asked quietly from his side, his face horror stricken.

"No. Tenseiga can only be used on a person once, and she has already been brought back with its power."

"…Will she… die?"

"No, but the unborn child will."

Then Koga fell silent, a sad and solemn look crossing his face.

Sesshomaru felt the same way, but he didn't dare to show his emotion. Not now. Not ever.

"What about the Shikon no Tama?" Koga asked hopefully, revealing the nearly completed jewel that he had retrieved, "It grants a wish, does it not?"

Sesshomaru examined the jewel carefully for a moment, taking the jewel from the wolf demon, strengthening the now one hand grip on Kohaku.

"…Only to ones that have never used its power." He answered quietly, in almost a whisper.

Koga didn't need to be told twice. He automatically bent down and ripped the shards out of his legs, ignoring the pain that surged through his body afterwards. The jewel shards were quickly given to Sesshomaru, who looked at them with a strange unselfish want. Then the jewel began to mend itself in his hands, despite him being demon.

In the end, the black jewel was missing a single piece. That single piece was what kept Kohaku alive. But, for some reason, Sesshomaru couldn't find himself to take away the boy's shard. He had heard what Kagome had said to Koga before this had happened; he had heard her say that she didn't want to kill Kohaku…

Kagome cried harder, and the sound ripped at his mind. He couldn't just stand here and do nothing.

"I have to die, don't I?" Kohaku asked through tears, now looking at his older sister's friend, "I have to die if I want to save her?"

"Yes." Sesshomaru answered slowly, removing his hand from Kohaku's shoulder.

Kohaku, watching the things that were happening in front of him, knew what he had to do. He didn't care that it wasn't what he wanted to happen now that the memories were coming back to him. He knew he had to do it.

And then he slowly walked toward his sister, kneeling down beside her. He felt her gaze on him, the gaze that was full of tears…

"Thank you for everything you've done, sister," he whispered, "But I have to make this right…"

Then he looked at her, unable to define each emotion that was running over his sister's face. She began to cry harder, embracing him in a bear hug.

"You've always been so brave," she sobbed, "I'm so proud of you Kohaku…"

And then once she let go of him she returned to Kagome, stroking the girl's hair comfortingly. She would be fine. Everything would be all right. At least, nearly everything would be alright…

Kohaku didn't hesitate. He didn't care that he was dying. As long as it would make everything right again, he would do it. Then he felt the pain that came with him silver scythe, glancing once at his sister before he dislodged the small shard that had allowed him a second chance at life.

Soon, he would be home.

And after he could no longer hear the shikon shard fell to the ground, making the sound of a pin falling to the floor in a quiet room. No one went to pick it up. They just stared at it, finding it so strange that it was actually there.

But they all snapped back into reality when Kagome began to cry harder, crying out.

Sesshomaru picked up the shard, the final shard, and placed it in the place where it should be. The jewel glowed black for a moment, and then it was completed. Completed but unpurified. The yokai lord stared at it for a moment, unsure of whether or not to use the jewel if it was unpurified. The effects of an evil jewel could be a lot different than what he wanted…

Kagome's cries began to scrape harder into his skull, the scent of her blood tearing at him. He had to make a decision now.

And then the demon lord of the western lands fell to his knees next to Kagome, pulling one of her hands away from her stomach and prying the fingers open so he could see her palm, and set the black jewel in her hand. Automatically, it was purified, and Kagome closed her fingers around it. Then Sesshomaru took her hand in his right, and put all his faith in that little jewel that so many had died for, and wished that his brother's child would live…

And then Kagome shuddered, letting out a last moan of pain as the Shikon no Tama disappeared from her palm.

---

For hours she didn't awaken as she lay in Sesshomaru's arms, her and her friends resting somewhere within the castle that had once been their enemies. No one had dared to speak while she lay there, unmoving and quiet, for the fear that they might wake her.

Kagome shifted in Sesshomaru's arms, and he allowed himself to shift along with her movements. It was all over now, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go terribly wrong. But he ignored most of his senses at the moment, drawing his attention to the girl in his arms. She was going to be all right soon, she would awaken. He knew that. He wouldn't let himself think otherwise.

The shard of his father's fang that he had picked up finally cracked underneath the grinding of Sesshomaru's claw. Nearly in the shape of a crescent moon he was attempting to carve it into, he gave it no real attention, just let his subconscious form it into whatever it pleased. He still found it hard to believe that his brother had pulled off whatever had happened back there, but didn't linger long on the thought. It didn't really matter how it had happened, it only mattered that it did happen.

Naraku was dead and Sesshomaru had had his revenge on him. That was that.

Across from him, Koga made a noise of both surprise and relief.

"..Sess… Sesshomaru?" Kagome asked warily, her eyes fluttering open.

He looked down at her, and though his well built mask was about to break.

She was ok.

"What happened…? Where's the jewel?" she asked as she came around, gazing at her surroundings, "What happened to Naraku?"

"Naraku has been defeated," Sesshomaru answered, putting a restraint on the emotions that were itching to be let out, "And the jewel is not something you need to worry about. It was completed and has been used."

"…Used?"

"I used it to save you and your child's life, Kagome," he said slowly, "Naraku had almost killed the child in his last moments."

He couldn't understand the look on Kagome's face after his words had been spoken, but he knew there were emotions that he couldn't comprehend or understand that were running through her mind right now. So he remained quiet, letting the miko sort through her mind.

"…What about Koga… and Sango?"

"Right here, Kagome," the wolf answered, the emotion in his voice obvious, "We're fine."

"…It's over, isn't it?" she then asked after she had looked at the demon slayer and the wolf demon, making sure her mind wasn't just playing tricks on her.

Then Sesshomaru nodded, unable to fully grasp the concept himself.

* * *

Kagome rode upon Ah-Un's back, the sun shining brightly, her hands resting on the mountain that was her stomach. Rin was beside her now, talking ninety-nine miles an hour, making Kagome smile. It was almost like nothing had ever happened.

It had been so long since they had defeated the monstrosity that had been called Naraku, and she could no longer call upon the man's face any longer. He was a distant memory, a ghost that had terrorized her past. She didn't give him a thought any more. He was just Naraku, a man that she no longer remembered.

"Kagome-chan? When is the baby going to come?" Rin asked for the millionth time.

"Soon enough," Kagome answered with a smile, not the slightest bit bothered by having to answer the same question over again.

"What will you name it?"

"I'm not sure." Kagome said truthfully, knowing she hadn't given the subject much thought.

"If it's a boy you should name it InuYasha."

"Rin," Sesshomaru said in a slightly warning voice, cutting the conversation short, "I think you've pestered Kagome enough about the baby."

"Ok, Sesshomaru-sama, Rin will stop now." She said cheerfully, jumping down from the two headed dragon to go bother Jaken.

Kagome smiled, watching Jaken become quickly annoyed with the young one's first five questions. Then Ah-Un picked up the pace a bit, coming to walk next to its master, Sesshomaru.

"You didn't need to stop her you know," Kagome said as she came up beside him, "She's just curious and trying to be helpful."

"She may be," he replied, "But she needn't bother you about your child so often."

"I guess," Kagome agreed, looking at the invisible trail in front of them, "…What do you think will happen when the baby does decide to come? I mean, it's growing so much quicker than a mortal baby, I'm thinking it might just pop out any day now."

"It only takes a hanyo and a yokai baby six months to grow instead of a baby mortal's nine, Kagome," he explained, "And it will happen the way it does."

"How long do you think I have until it comes?"

"I cannot be sure since you do not know what time of the month it was when my half brother impregnated you." Sesshomaru answered, ignoring the blush Kagome had on her face.

"Ok then," Kagome said, denying the fact that she was blushing, "What will happen after the baby is born?"

"…You will do as you wish." Sesshomaru answered slowly, not looking at her.

Kagome looked at him in surprise, "As I wish?"

"I do not like repeating myself, Kagome."

"I thought you told me I was to stay with you."

"At one point in time I did, but I cannot keep you against your will." Sesshomaru stated, his eyes a million miles away.

"…And what if I decided to stay with you?"

"Then you would."

Then Kagome smiled, turning her gaze to look at him. He had changed so much since she'd first met him. Long ago, she would have expected him to kill her. But no, not now. Now, he would protect her and kill for her. He was such a different person. Maybe even a better person.

Kagome knew that she could always put her trust in him.

"Sesshomaru," she asked, "Do you think I should name the baby InuYasha if it's a boy?"

"Personally," he answered after a moments thought, "I don't like the idea much."

"Why?"

He paused for another moment before answering, "Because, the child will not be InuYasha and could never be."

Kagome nodded after her own moments thought, agreeing with him. He was right. The child could never be its father.

Kagome clutched her stomach as a temporary pain shot through her stomach.

But, then again, it might kick as hard as its father…

---

Kagome poked her stomach. It was so _big_. And the baby inside was really restless. There wasn't a half hour that she got in peace. The baby loved to move, to kick, to punch. It was insane. But, at least she knew that it was healthy.

"Are part demons bigger than mortal babies?" she asked Sesshomaru as she walked next to him, the sun's rays shining down upon them.

"Normally." He answered in his emotionless voice, looking up at the sky as he walked along, "Why?"

"Just curious." She answered.

The baby kicked again, making Kagome stop for a second, giggling quietly even though she was in a sort of pain. She sure was going to have a bundle of energy on her hands soon. Then the child started to shift around, and Sesshomaru stopped, waiting patiently for her.

Then Kagome froze.

But she didn't even have to say a thing.

"Jaken," Sesshomaru ordered loudly at the half awake imp, "Take Rin back to the Castle of the West."

"..Yes milord." Jaken mumbled in reply, climbing up onto Ah-Un's back and disappearing into the sky with Rin.

Then Kagome found herself in his arms, flying over the tree tops.

"Sesshomaru…" she began, but he didn't let her finish.

"I know," he said, a small flicker of emotion coming in his voice, "the baby is coming."

---

They had settled in a small clearing next to a stream, where Sesshomaru had left her temporarily to go bully some nearby villagers to give him a blanket. Kagome was surprised he hadn't returned with blood on his hands, but, luckily, all he had was a black blanket that was in pretty good condition. He had set it beside her, and spoke to her quietly, holding her hand in comfort during labor. It lasted forever, for hours. It had been late day when they had come to rest here, and now it was the dead of night, and it hurt worse than ever.

Then it began.

Sesshomaru left her side and sat himself at her open legs, watching and waiting for the baby, his hands ready to grab anything that came out of her. He would tell her things every once in a while, but she didn't really hear him. She couldn't hear his words through her pain, but she could hear his voice, and it comforted her a bit. He was there for her, just like she knew he would be…

Then the pain escalated, and all she could think about was the drugs that her doctors could have given her to stop this god damn pain.

"Kagome," Sesshomaru spoke with intensity, and this time, Kagome could hear his words, "I can see the baby…"

She pushed. She wanted this child out of her, and she wanted this child out of her _now. _But it was just so slow!

"Don't rush yourself." He said, looking up at her, "Breathe."

Kagome hissed a curse. She was never, ever going to have another kid without those damn pain drugs!

And then, above them, the sky went dark, causing to make Sesshomaru look up. It was a lunar eclipse. He couldn't help but give a small smirk. Hadn't InuYasha been born under a lunar eclipse?

From there they continued, Kagome crying, pushing, and screaming until it was all over. Sesshomaru handled the baby with care, letting the water of the stream run over it gently after he had tied the cord, washing away all of the blood. Then, after he had wrapped the young one in the black blanket, he handed the small thing over to its mother.

"Here's your son."

And then Kagome looked down at the crying child, seeing the silver hair and golden eyes, and smiled widely. Just like his father… Then, with that thought running through her head, she fell into a world of sleep, strangely exhausted.

Sesshomaru, who had watched her in interest, had not expected her to fall asleep. Never before had he heard of that before, but he ignored it. The baby couldn't survive out here for long, so they needed to move. And they did, Sesshomaru picking up Kagome and his nephew, and jumped into the sky, making sure his two companions were in no danger of falling.

* * *

The Castle of the West, the castle his father had built many centuries ago, stood as tall as ever, welcoming Sesshomaru back. The guards posted outside the gates stared at Sesshomaru as he landed, without a sound, on the grass, unsure as of why he was carrying a mortal in his arms. The baby, tucked underneath the black blanket, could not be seen by their eyes.

And as Sesshomaru neared his castle gates, the guards bowed deep, welcoming him home in the smallest of voices. Sesshomaru ignored them completely though, walking past them without any sign that he had heard them. And then the castle grounds opened before his eyes, a few servants doing something or another in the court yard. One of them was entertaining a young girl sitting on the steps up to the castle doors, but it was obvious that Rin wasn't paying attention at all as she stared up into the sky.

Sesshomaru noticed that she looked a bit sleep deprived when the young girl's eyes fell on him.

"Sesshomaru-sama!" she exclaimed happily and loudly, running up to them, "Kagome-chan!"

"Quiet Rin," Sesshomaru ordered as the girl came up to him, and the girl instantly shut her mouth, "You will wake her."

"Welcome back my young, emotionless, Sesshomaru-sama." Greeted the woman who had been attempting to entertain Rin, the smirk in her voice obvious.

Sesshomaru would know that voice anywhere. It was the voice of the teenager he had grown up around, the only servant in his castle that would dare speak to him with little restraint.

"Onai," he acknowledged, looking up at the brown haired inu yokai, "Get one of the guest rooms ready.

"Alright," she agreed hastily, her sapphire eyes flickering from Kagome to Sesshomaru, "For her, I suppose? …Who is she? And why does she reek of blood? "

Sesshomaru gave a mental sigh, slightly annoyed, "If you are done interrogating this Sesshomaru, Onai, go prepare a room."

The yokai huffed, leaving with a "fine, fine," as she went back inside the castle.

"Sesshomaru-sama?" Rin asked in a quiet voice, as she followed the footsteps of the inu yokai, "Is Kagome-chan alright?"

"Yes, Rin," Sesshomaru answered, ignoring the glances he was getting from anybody who had been near the doorway into the castle as he stepped inside, "Have you slept since Jaken returned you here?"

Rin sounded a bit ashamed, "No, Sesshomaru-sama. I wanted to be here when you returned."

"Then return to your room and rest."

"Yes, Sesshomaru-sama!" Then Rin skipped away, making her way to her room as Onai appeared in Sesshomaru's vision.

"I got a room ready, Sesshomaru-sama," she said, walking up next to him, beginning to lead him to the room she had prepared, "Now will you answer my questions?"

"No." he answered plainly as he followed her.

"Why not?"

He didn't reply.

"Who is she?"

Silence.

"Why won't you answer me?"

More silence.

"Talking to you is like trying to get a response from a brick wall." She said, annoyed.

Yet again, Sesshomaru gave her no response as Onai opened the shoji door to the room they had stopped at, and she knew not to follow as he walked inside. The moment he was inside, the door slid closed, temporarily closing him off from any stares from the residents of the household.

He then went across the room, gently lying Kagome down on the bed she had been given. Still unsure why she had fallen into such a deep sleep after giving birth, he took the child from her and examined it as he sat down on the wooden floor. The baby, fast asleep, remained undisturbed as Sesshomaru looked over him, the child's mind in other places.

He had white hair and golden eyes, his skin fair like his mother's. His ears were of a normal human, though Sesshomaru had expected him to share the ears that his father had had, but the yokai lord gave it no real thought. Everything seemed right about the child, but there was something Sesshomaru couldn't quite place that was different than what it should be…

Then the young one's scent hit him full on.

This child wasn't part demon like he should be.

He was part human.

---

Kagome blinked a couple of times, trying to figure out where she was. She felt tired and a bit slow, her mind still half asleep. She couldn't remember how she got her or why she was here, and it was worrying her.

She yawned as InuYasha flashed through her mind.

Then she sat upright before you could blink, her mind whirring to life. Where was her baby? Who had taken her child from her? Her thoughts were starting to go along the lines of murder for who ever had taken her child from her, but her panic was soon eased. She had whipped her neck around to look at the door, her intention being to get up and run out of the room and find the god damn bastard who had dared to take her baby, but she had met the golden eyes of Sesshomaru.

Relief swept through her mind automatically. She shouldn't have panicked at all.

"You're awake," he said, stating the obvious.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Not long enough to cause worry." He replied, coming into the room, standing over her with a black bundle cradled in the crook of his arms, "Now stand. Someone will come to escort you to the baths."

And she stood, though slowly, not wanting to cause any dizziness, looking up at him as she did. He handed her her child, responding to something she nearly asked, and Kagome took the baby in her arms gently.

"Go ahead and take the child if you wish," he said, turning away to leave, "But answer no one's questions about it," he paused, "Do not speak InuYasha's name either."

"Why?" Kagome asked automatically, but he was already gone.

She sighed, wishing he didn't have to be so damn mysterious. He hadn't even told her where they were!

"You are Kagome-san, am I correct?" someone asked from the doorway, the female voice appearing out of nowhere.

Kagome nodded in response, looking upon the brown haired yokai.

"Then follow me, please."

---

There were baths in the castle, hot springs in fact. Kagome had thought she might have fainted when she saw them, so happy that she could finally bathe in warm water. She did take her baby with her, being careful with it as she let some of the water run over its soft skin, and she truly took in her child's looks for the first time.

He looked so much like InuYasha, but so much like her as well. And every time she let her eyes wander over his form a wave of love and care swept over her. This was her child… _her _baby.

"Kagome-san," the woman asked as she wet the miko's hair, "I don't mean to be nosey, but how do you know Sesshomaru-sama?"

_Do not speak InuYasha's name either._

"We fought an enemy together." She explained vaguely, "and just call me Kagome. I don't like the formalities much…"

"Alright, Kagome," the woman said, "But could you answer me one question?"

"Of course, if you tell me your name," Kagome said with a smile.

"My name is Onai, and, do you see him as the cold, dark, guy that probably has a stick shoved up his ass like I do?"

Kagome laughed, "I'm not sure, but I really don't think he has a stick shoved up his ass."

Onai smiled, "Then you must know him a bit better than I do. He's always had that cold look on his face, even when he was young. But then again, he actually had a personality back then."

The child in Kagome's arms suddenly launched itself at Kagome's breast, causing the mother to emit a strange sound.

Onai couldn't help but giggle, "Looks like someone's hungry."

* * *

**A****/N: --running around in circles while yelling in a singsong voice-- Bakusaiga! Bakusaiga! Bakusaiga! Bakusaigaaaaa!!!!**

**If you're wondering why I've gone insane it's because, in the newest installment of Inu-Yasha, Sesshomaru gots his arm back along with his own sword!!! Totosai knew that the sword would only appear if Sesshomaru no longer held the desire to weild Tetsusaiga, so, when Sesshomaru nearly _died, _the sword came out and saved his sexy ass!**

**I'm gonna laugh if InuYasha starts calling it "Baka-saiga" just to piss off Sesshomaru. (Baka means stupid in Japanese)**

**But anyways, no, my story ain't over, but its coming to its close. Sorry about the last drop off! Please review!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!**

**...BAKUSAIGA!!!!!!!!!!!!! **


	18. Goodbye

**A/N: "Yue" is Chinese for "moon" **

* * *

Kagome sighed, watching her baby rest. She was in Sesshomaru's study, waiting for him, but finding herself content with just staring at her sleeping child, whom had not a care in the world. And then she found that, deep inside her heart, she wished that maybe, just maybe, the world would take them both soon. She wanted to be a family, to be with InuYasha as he held his child… but no, she loved her life more than ever now, finding the world a much brighter place now that she held her child close.

And as she stared off into space, her eyes facing her child, the shoji door behind her opened, but went unnoticed.

"Miko," Sesshomaru greeted calmly and without emotion, making Kagome jump out of her skin.

"Give me a heart attack, why don't you!" Kagome accused once she had regained her composure, looking over her shoulder to see the yokai lord.

"I must decline your offer, miko," He said sarcastically, inwardly amused at her sudden outburst, "For we have something to discuss."

"And what is that?" she was still angry, but her voice carried curiosity.

"It is about your child."

"…What about him?"

"Have you noticed anything strange about him?" Sesshomaru asked as he sat down across from her, his eyes on his sleeping nephew.

"No…. what are you getting at?"

"That child has a strange type of blood."

"Of course he does," Kagome said, "He's part yokai."

"That isn't what I mean, miko," Sesshomaru explained, his eyes trailing up to hers, "Your child, in fact, is not part yokai," he paused to watch her expression, "He's part human."

"…What do you mean by that?" she was utterly confused now, and he could see that, so he explained it in the simplest terms.

"Your child has more yokai blood than human – the opposite of what he's supposed to have." His eyes lingered back to the baby, "In fact, he has more yokai blood than InuYasha ever had."

Kagome, unsure of what to think of his words, looked down at her baby. Was Sesshomaru right? Was her baby actually three-fourths yokai instead of three-fourths human? But, if it was true, how was that possible…?

"Sesshomaru, that's impossible…" she said, her gaze traveling up to meet his golden eyes.

"Not with the power of the Shikon no Tama."

She paused, "The jewel has been ridden of, Sesshomaru, you used it— "

"This Sesshomaru used it to save your child's life," he finished for her, "which means the powers of the Shikon no Tama may be embedded inside of this child."

Kagome stared at him blankly for a moment, wondering if that was even possible. But it made sense, at least a little bit.

"But how would that make him a part human?"

"It must be the side effects of the jewel," Sesshomaru guessed, looking at her with curious eyes, "There is no other explanation."

Kagome sighed, letting the words sink in. There they would find themselves in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. Then, after a moment or two, Kagome let a sigh pass through her lips.

"He's still my child Sesshomaru," She said in a strong, yet soft, voice, "And I really wouldn't care if he were full yokai like you. He's my son, Sesshomaru, and nothing can change that. I'll love him no matter what."

The yokai lord looked at her, a smile appearing inside his mind. How could he have expected anything less?

"And what shall you name your child?" he asked, the topic of his nephews blood now gone and past.

"…Yue."

* * *

His hair was flowing down his chest from its place where it fell over his shoulder, his golden eyes cast downwards at the infant in front of him. Kagome watched them both, her son and his uncle, have their competitive staring contest. But, really, she wasn't paying attention to them, she was staring at Sesshomaru's hair. She didn't know why, but she did know that she envied it. With half a mind she wondered how he kept it so silky and smooth, though she had come to a conclusion where it had something to do with him being yokai – at this point a mental image of Sesshomaru in his true form grooming himself like all dogs do passed through her minds eye – and though she managed not to laugh, she tossed the thought to the side. I didn't really matter did it? All that did matter was that it was really, really pretty. 

"Are you that entranced with my hair, Kagome?" Sesshomaru asked suddenly, snapping Kagome out of her thoughts.

And when she couldn't find a proper comeback, he chuckled inwardly, amused at the slight blush that was on her face. It was so easy to make her do that…

"Sess-sama," his nephew called up to him in his small vocabulary, "bye!" And then the young child stumbled his way over to his mother's lap, seemingly not upset that he had lost their staring match.

Kagome giggled when the boy fell in her lap, a stupid grin upon his face, "Mommy!"

"Hello, my little boy," she greeted with a smile, lifting the child up from underneath his armpits so he could sit up properly, "Did Sess-sama beat you again."

"I know that you can pronounce my name, Kagome," Sesshomaru said a bit too defensively, "Just because he cannot does not mean that you can begin to call this Sesshomaru what your son does."

"Looks like someone has a stick shoved up his butt today, doesn't it Yue?" Kagome said in a giggle, looking over at Sesshomaru with a strange sparkle in her eyes as she spoke to her son.

"Pull it out?" the boy asked, his thumb in his mouth now, not fully understanding the meaning of what his mother had said.

And, at that, Kagome fell on her back laughing. Sesshomaru, who wasn't pleased at her for the moment, ignored the situation as best as he could. But, Kagome's laughter still found its way into his mind now, worming his way into the deeper corners of his mind, shackling itself there just as all his other memories were. That was what he like best about her anyways… he couldn't stop himself from liking her laugh…

Suddenly, something fell down in his lap.

Apparently, Yue was beginning to use his demonic speed more than he should.

"Yes?" he asked, looking down at the child in his lap.

"Mommy insane." The boy stated, the newest word in his vocabulary most likely learned from Rin.

"Yes," Sesshomaru agreed, "Your mother has gone insane."

Yue then giggled, sitting up on the floor next to Sesshomaru, toying with his collar short silver hair. It really didn't take much to keep the child occupied.

It had been nearly a year since Yue had been born, nearly two since Naraku had perished, and Sesshomaru was finding life in his castle much more interesting when Kagome was around. Before, everyone was too serious, most likely because their lord had been that way. But now, Kagome's attitude seemed to have rubbed off on everyone that she had been able to meet. Onai was the one she had affected the most though. The woman had become even more of a pain in the ass than ever before, finding things to do that would purposely irritate him. Her last stunt was to allow Yue to wake him up. The boy had literally launched himself upon his face, squishing his nose temporarily.

Suddenly, there was a smack on his knee, and he looked down at Yue. The boy, obviously trying to cover up what he had just done, looked up at him as innocently as he could.

"I didn't do it."

Sesshomaru, resisting the strong urge to roll his eyes, turned his gaze up to the now recovering Kagome. Her hair was a bit a stray in places, but otherwise, she had looked like she hadn't gone temporarily insane.

"You're staring at me, Sesshomaru." She stated plainly, meeting his golden eyed gaze.

"And why are you surprised?" he replied, "You have just recovered from your temporary insanity."

Childishly, she stuck her tongue out at him, only causing him to give her a strange look.

"Perhaps you have permanently gone insane?" He questioned mockingly, ignoring the child that was crawling up to the neck of his kimono.

"Yes, I have," Kagome replied sarcastically, "And it is because I've been around you too long, Ice-pants."

Inwardly, Sesshomaru grimaced. He hated it when she called him that.

"Is that so, Ka--? Yue, what are you doing?" he asked, looking down at the boy that was hanging around his neck, one of the child's hands down his shirt.

But, as the child opened his mouth to speak, he suddenly let out a squeal of pain, withdrawing a now bleeding finger.

"What. Did. You. DO?!" Kagome suddenly accused, her mothering instincts kicking in at the sight of her child's blood.

Sesshomaru sighed then, taking the child's finger in his hand. I wasn't serious; it was just a prick on the finger, which was damn lucky because the top of the child's finger could have been cut off.

"He's fine," Sesshomaru stated calmly, letting go of the child's hand, "But he should learn some manners about personal boundaries…"

But, apparently, Kagome wasn't listening to him as her child ran over to her, sucking on his finger.

"What did you cut him with Sesshomaru!?" she was angry at him, obviously, and wasn't about to listen to him.

So, with a very soft, nearly inaudible sigh, Sesshomaru dropped his own hand into his shirt, withdrawing it when he held a crescent moon necklace in his long fingers.

"He cut himself on this," he said, referring to the necklace he was holding, the pendant flashing with the sun's rays, "It's a shard from Tetsusaiga."

Kagome, her anger fading, paused. He had a shard of Tetsusaiga, carved into a crescent moon, as a necklace?

"…Tetsusaiga?"

"You heard me the first time."

"…Can… Can I see it? I'll give it back…" she asked hesitantly, gazing at the shining piece of the sword that had protected her so many times.

Sesshomaru nodded, pulling the necklace over his head, his hair falling in intricate designs as it fell after he pulled the necklace completely off. Then he tossed the necklace at the floor next to her, his eyes following the pendant he wore. Kagome picked it up gently by the black string it was connected to, staring at the piece of Tetsusaiga with a strange gaze.

After all that had happened, he still wanted that sword so much…

"You know, you could just get Totosai to make you your own sword now," Kagome stated, speaking her thoughts, "I'm sure he'd do it for you…"

"No," Sesshomaru replied with an emotionless voice, "I have Tokijin and Tenseiga. That is all this Sesshomaru needs."

Kagome smiled slightly, and tossed the necklace back over to him, giving the carved metal one last look. Sesshomaru caught it in his hand gracefully, placing it back on his neck in a swift movement.

"Now, Yue," Kagome said, turning her attention to her child, "have you learned to ask Sess-sama before you try to dig something out of his shirt?"

Yue nodded, his eyes cast downward, looking slightly ashamed. But that soon wore off when he decided to ask a question.

"Mommy, what Te-swai-ga?" he asked, trying to pronounce "Tetsusaiga," but failing horribly.

"Tetsusaiga?" she asked, seeing if she had heard him right, and when he nodded, she answered with a smile on her face, "It was your Daddy's sword."

"Daddy's!?" the boy was instantly interested at the mention of his father.

"Yes," she giggled, "It was his sword, but it went 'Kaboom!' and now that's the only piece left."

Yue giggled, "KABOOM!"

Sesshomaru, who wasn't paying much attention to the conversation, placed the necklace back inside his shirt, the cold metal welcome against his skin. He hadn't thought about his brother in the longest of times, even though he saw the boy's son everyday. Life was promising to be boring when Kagome would one day pass away, he knew that for sure. Now that his punching bag of a brother was dead, he would have very little to do… The only one left of his family would be his nephew, possibly, and his mother.

Inwardly, he grimaced. He and his mother weren't exactly on the best of terms anymore…

But the thought of family made Sesshomaru wonder about Kagome's family. She hadn't mentioned them once, even though she had given her parents their first grandchild…

"Kagome?" he asked, the girl responding to his words with a questioning look, "Would you like to return to your family?"

Kagome's heart suddenly fell to her stomach. Her family had finally been mentioned.

"No, Sesshomaru, it's alright." She muttered, "I don't need to go see them."

But Sesshomaru's nose did not fail him. He could smell the longing in her aura.

"You do want see them, Kagome, do not lie to this Sesshomaru." He said calmly, "Where do they live?"

Kagome hesitated, "… Far away."

That was true, wasn't it?

"How far away?" he asked, a bit annoyed that she wouldn't answer him straight out.

"Somewhere… somewhere where you have never been."

"Kagome, stop avoiding the question."

She sucked in a breath, closing her eyes. It was impossible to hide this from him, impossible to lie to him. She would have to tell him…

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." She answered quietly, her eyes still closed.

She was answered with a threatening silence, knowing that it meant she had to answer.

"They live… live five hundred years in the future…"

And he didn't seem surprised; his expression didn't change in the slightest.

"I see." And that was all he said.

* * *

Standing in front of this well she had brought him to, he stared at it, feeling the power that was radiating off of it. Kagome was crying, he could smell her tears, but he didn't go to comfort her, no matter what he was compelled to do. No matter that he wanted to hold her close and shield her from the world that watched her… Yue shifted in his arm, gripping his shoulder, unsure of what was going on. 

"Miko…" he said calmly, seeing if she would open up.

"If I go home, Sesshomaru," she sobbed, "I won't be able to come back…"

He didn't know to say to this, so he remained silent, just staring at her raven black hair. He had learned to trust her over all this time, so he allowed her to keep her secrets and reasons her own. And now, she might be leaving him forever…

"Will… will you come with me?" she asked in a whisper, turning towards him, her eyes red with tears.

He nodded, looking at her with confusion. If she truly couldn't return he though he would miss her… he knew he would miss her. Looking at her, he could hear the ghostly memory of her laughter…

Then he was at her side looking down the dark well, wondering if this would really work.

"Come." He said plainly, taking hold of her hand.

She found comfort in that, he could tell. And with strange thoughts of emotions in the back of his mind, they jumped down, the darkness crushing them both. He was sure that nothing would happen for a moment, but then the blue light came, removing the darkness from them. He could feel the power pulsing through his veins, the foreign feeling of light headedness upon him. Suddenly, it was gone, and his feet hit solid ground, the sound of Yue's laugh pleasant to his ears.

Then Kagome fell to her knees, her tears coming in rivers. He knew why, it was all too obvious. This well, or whatever it was, now held no magical powers to her. He could feel the powers himself, who knew why, but he knew he was the only one that could.

Then he knelt next to the crying miko, rubbing her back like he had done to calm Yue so many times in the past. She began to calm after a time, her sobs slowly turning into silence. And when it did, he helped her stand, their gazes locking for a moment, brown meeting gold.

"Are you ready?" he asked softly, ignoring Yue, who was tugging at his hair.

Her eyes were suddenly filled with a strange mix of sadness and fear when she answered him,

"Do I have a choice anymore?"

He supposed she didn't.

"Come, Kagome," he whispered, putting his arm around her waist and holding her close to his side, his pelt and armor he usually wore absent, "Let us go."

And then he jumped up, foreign and disgusting scents tingling in his nose, and he knew that he was no longer in the world he knew.

---(DR)

When he came upon her home, she had begun to cry again, though silently, and he had gone in without the slightest announcement of his presence. It wouldn't have mattered anyways, no one was home. Or, at least, no one he could detect through his fogged senses. And, without knowledge of her home or its rooms, he took her in, her hands clinging to his shirt, and he sat her down on the floor that surrounded a black box. Yue then demanded that he be in his mother's arms, now noticing that his mother was crying, and Sesshomaru let his nephew down. Then, without invitation or permission, he began to search the house for any living thing. He could have just used his senses, but right now, they were so clouded he doubted that he would be able to use them much.

And, in an entire sweep of the house, he found no one. The only place left to search was the room that Kagome's scent was the strongest, and he had purposely left it to be last. It was her room, the place where she found her privacy. Then, slowly, he opened the door.

A woman was sitting on the edge of a bed, her tears obvious, and Sesshomaru quickly got out of her line of sight. Knowing Kagome, he probably wasn't the most welcome person here to people who hadn't been taught of the recent events. He had tried to kill her… and he regretted that fact to this very day.

"Inu… InuYasha?!" The woman asked in a chocked sob, looking out the now open door.

Damn. She'd seen his hair.

So, quickly, he jumped over the railing and down to the floor below, ignoring that there were stairs. The woman had mistaken him for InuYasha, so, of course, she would inevitably follow him.

Above him, his half brother's name was called out again.

Making sure the tips of his hair were seen as he left through the door, he made his way back out to the room he had left Kagome in, and stood beside the doorway. He knew that at the sight of Kagome, the woman would forget that she had seen him.

Again, his half brother's name was called. Kagome seemed to ignore it completely.

Then, a woman who had short black hair came into the room, and Sesshomaru thought she was about to collapse. She wavered where she stood, tears steaming down her face as she stared blankly at Kagome.

"Ka… Kagome?" she sobbed, her aura now filled with confusion, relief, and sorrow.

Kagome began to cry as well, though silently, as she removed her son from her lap, "Mama?"

And then they ran to each other in a tight embrace, the woman's crying reunion finally here. Sesshomaru, knowing it would be wrong to disturb the two, quickly went over to his nephew and used his hand to cover the boy's mouth, for the young one had opened it to question.

In return, he was given a stick, slobbery lick on his palm. It took all his will power to not make a disgusted face and not move his hand away.

Yue began to quietly mumble into his hand, and luckily, neither of the women gave him any attention. They were still embracing, mother and daughter, after the long years that a mother had thought she had lost her daughter.

"I…I thought you were…were dead, Kagome…" the woman sobbed into her daughter's hair, holding her child close, "It hurt… hurt so much…"

"Mama," Kagome wasn't crying much anymore, "I'm here now… please don't cry…"

And then they pulled away from another, Kagome's mother wiping away her tears with the back of her hand.

"Where were you?" she asked, her eyes still filled with tears, "Why didn't you come back?"

Sesshomaru's free hand twitched involuntarily. He had done this, hadn't he?

"Mama, please sit down," she gave Sesshomaru a knowing look as she spoke, her mother not noticing that her attention wasn't at her, "There's a lot to tell."

And Sesshomaru had understood her completely, and he scooped up her son, disappearing in a flash, stopping his demonic speed when he was inside her room. They needed time alone now, and Yue wasn't the best surprise in the world to a distressed mother.

"What happened?" He mother asked weakly, "And where's InuYasha? I could have sworn that I saw him…"

"Mama," Kagome replied softly, "You won't be seeing InuYasha ever again…"

"Why…?"

"Because, Mama," the tears didn't come anymore, like they had once done, she had learned to live, but to remember as well, "InuYasha is dead… and Miroku… and Shippo… and Kirara. Naraku killed him right after I left last time… and that's why I couldn't come back. I had to stay, I had to fight. And, even if I had wanted to, even if I could have, I was too… broken to come back home. For a long time I couldn't forgive myself, Mama, I couldn't learn to live… I wanted to die…"

Nothing came out of Mrs. Higurashi's mouth as her daughter spoke.

"Do you remember Sesshomaru, Mama?"

Mrs. Higurashi nodded absentmindedly, somehow able to register everything her daughter was saying.

"He took me in Mama, he was the one who helped me. I know I told you that he tried to kill me. He did try to kill me in the past. But he wouldn't do that now. I can guarantee you that. He helped me learn how to live; he was just… just there when his brother couldn't be. He helped me see the sense in living when I couldn't see it myself. And, most of all Mama, he protected me from everything." Kagome paused, "And, eventually, we came to travel with Sango and Koga. They're alright, don't worry. They're great friends; they're probably up in Koga's mountains right now. But, anyways, we found Naraku. We fought him… we killed him…"

Kagome sucked in a breath, not wanting to accept the reality that was coming out of her lips.

"It's all over Mama."

And for a long time they said nothing, they just sat there, staring at one another.

"InuYasha's dead…?"

Kagome nodded, smiling slightly. He might be dead, he might not be with her right now, but he was happy. She knew that.

"And Naraku's dead too…?"

"Yes." And, in some ways, she wished he wasn't. If he wasn't, she could stay with Sesshomaru longer…

"Kagome… I'm so, so proud of you."

Kagome stared at her mother in confusion. Proud?

"You've done so much, you've overcome everything in your way, Kagome. You've learned to cope with death, honey, you've learned to move on but remember the best of everything." Mrs. Higurashi was on the edge of tears, "You've grown up in these past years, no matter how many there have been. You're seventeen, and you've done so much more than any adult could…"

Kagome smirked. She didn't know who much more she'd done…

"Mama," she paused, this was probably one of the hardest things that she'd ever done, "There's something else I need to tell you, and I don't know what you're going to think of me."

"What do you mean, Kagome? I could never think of you as anything but my daughter, I could never think of you as a child anymore either."

"Mama," a small smile crossed her face, "You're a Grandmother."

"…what?" the voice was full of confusion and surprise.

Kagome smiled a bit wider, "Sesshomaru!" she called behind her, in the direction the stairs lay, "Could you please?"

And then he was there, at the doorway, her child sitting in the crook of his arm.

"Mama, meet Yue," her smile was so bright now that Sesshomaru couldn't take his eyes off of her, "InuYasha's and my baby boy."

* * *

Mrs. Higurashi had been overjoyed after the shock had worn off, but she was still a tiny bit disapproving of the boy. Kagome was only seventeen and she hadn't even finished school yet! But, she knew her daughter, and she knew that she would be able to overcome any obstacle in her way. 

Sitting at the table, Mrs. Higurashi looked at her daughter, and then she gave Sesshomaru a cautious glance. Kagome was looking at him the way she had once looked at InuYasha and that only made her nervous.

But that was the god damn asshole that had tried to kill her daughter…

"Kagome," she said, "Maybe you should go take a shower."

Kagome knew that tone, and declined automatically. But, mother dearest won in the end, and Kagome retreated to the showers with her son. And now inu yokai and mother sat across the table from one another, staring at each other.

"So you're the reason why she didn't come home, are you not?" Mrs. Higurashi accused calmly, looking at Sesshomaru intently.

It took him a moment to reply, "If you look at it that way, yes."

"And you have tried to kill her in the past?"

Underneath his sleeve, Sesshomaru's hand twitched, "Yes."

"And do you expect me to trust you whatsoever?"

"No."

Mrs. Higurashi paused for a minute, "You've taken care of her, haven't you?"

"Somewhat."

"…For that I thank you, Sesshomaru, but I won't ever forgive you for attempting to kill my daughter."

Sesshomaru's silence was his reply.

"There is something I worry about." Mrs. Higurashi admitted, speaking calmly but cautiously, "Kagome looks at you the way she looked at InuYasha..."

Sesshomaru paused, a smile appearing in his mind, but his well constructed facial mask showed no emotion, "I have noticed."

"She's falling in love with you, Sesshomaru." Mrs. Higurashi stated, no longer looking at the daiyokai.

Sesshomaru didn't speak. He had known this for so long, but he had done nothing. He hadn't been sure enough to do anything.

"And if you hurt her," Kagome's mother continued, "I will rip your fucking head off."

At the vulgar words directed towards him, Sesshomaru felt a sense of shock. The only one that dared to speak to him like this had been Kagome. But, he wasn't all that surprised. Then, and only then, did he give this woman his full attention.

"This Sesshomaru would do nothing to hurt your daughter any longer." He paused, "Kagome is no longer my… enemy."

Mrs. Higurashi gave him a knowing look, "Do you love her as well?"

Then, quickly, Sesshomaru leaned back, seeing something flying at him from the corner of his eye. Something hit the wall on one side of him with a thunk.

Yue giggled, dripping wet with a towel around him, looking at his uncle mischievously, "Not me!"

Kagome was behind her son, dressed in a long shirt and shorts, looking at Sesshomaru with a strange emotion in her eyes as her wet hair clung to her face.

And then Sesshomaru stood up, walking over to the woman he had grown to know so well. When he was in front of her, Yue over in his grandmother's lap, he took the miko's wrist in his hand, and led her up to her room. Then, as they were walking up the stairs in an awkward silence, he realized something. He would really have to leave her behind; he would have to leave her side for so long… And that was the last thing he wanted to do.

In the back of his mind, an image of his father and Izayoi popped up. Maybe he was wrong to have criticized them…

Then they were there, in her room, staring into one another's eyes. The door closed quietly behind them, but it went unnoticed. The last time they had been alone together, without anyone else around, was when she had given birth so long ago.

"Were you going to answer my mother?" Kagome asked quietly and softly.

Sesshomaru hesitated. Was it right to show feelings, especially towards his brother's past love?

"…_She's happy with you right now, Sesshomaru, as much as I hate to say it. Try to keep it that way…" _Those had been InuYasha's words, and now, and only now, did Sesshomaru fully understand them.

"I had the intention to before Yue had thrown something at me." He answered truthfully, his gaze not lingering from hers. He felt his mask breaking, the ice around his heart cracking.

"…What were you going to say?" she was so nervous now, nearly unable to finish her sentences.

He looked down at her, golden eyes softening. Should he tell her? He couldn't lie to her, it was below him to lie. But did he really want her to know if she couldn't return to him? For the first time in his life, Sesshomaru accepted that he was nervous… that he could possibly be afraid.

He quietly sucked in a breath, his iced heart melting and his mask splitting in two,

"Yes."

Then she fell into his chest, tears streaming down her face. He found he could do nothing but put his arms around her and hold her close to him as she cried, his nose buried in her hair. Her words were unspoken, but he heard them loud and clear.

_I love you, Sesshomaru._

And he loved her in return. The cold yokai lord of the Western Lands finally accepted himself, finally felt so much lighter than he had before. He knew there were so much that could come from feelings, even if he could only share his feelings with one person in this entire world. He knew, that after all these years of solitude, he could be himself, even if only for such a short time. Sesshomaru finally understood what love was…

And Kagome, who was still crying tears of sorrow and relief, found so much comfort in him, so much comfort in his words. She loved him, and she finally knew that he loved her as well. Her heart was finally mending that last hole in her heart, that hole so deep in her heart that longed for someone to be there with her. Her heart was letting go of InuYasha, remembering the love she had given him, the love he had given her, but still letting the grief fly away on the winds.

She'd found love again, something she never thought she'd find again.

Sesshomaru began to rub her back in wide circles, calming her. His warmth began to flood her, his love began to worm its way into her heart, and she felt at peace. A peace she hadn't felt in so long…

"Kagome," he muttered, pulling her a bit tighter to him, "I love you…"

She looked up at him, brown eyes swimming with water.

"I love you," she muttered, but then something flickered in the back of her mind.

She loved him, but this was their last day together.

Then the tears came quicker, faster, and stronger, full of sorrow this time. It was all over, all of it. And now, more than ever, she wanted it all back. She wanted the rival yokai to attack her, she wanted the centipede demon to pull her back into the well all over again, and she wanted Koga to come and fight Sesshomaru for her this time, she wanted to see the clear skies of the past. But, it was all so far out of reach now. She knew Sesshomaru had no place here in her time, she knew that he had duties that called him in the past. She couldn't ask him to stay with her forever; she couldn't have her own happy ending.

But wasn't that how all fairytales ended? Didn't someone get their happy ending? This reality of her all seemed as if it was pulled out of a fairytale, so why couldn't it end like one?

"Kagome," he spoke, his velvet voice flooding into her mind, "Don't cry any more. There is still time left for us."

"…But not enough…" she said in reply, looking back up at his golden eyes.

He found he couldn't argue with her.

* * *

They sat together, Kagome leaning in to his warmth as they lay on the couch, her mother and son absent from the room. The television in front of them droned on about something or another as the sun set outside, but Kagome didn't pay attention to it. She was occupied by looking at Sesshomaru's face. 

He was staring at the television with a rather blank look, but she knew that he was absolutely enthralled by it. She could just tell by the way he wore his newly recovered mask, and the way he stared at it with curious eyes. She cuddled closer to him. Her brother would be coming home from his friend's house soon, and she was eager to see him again. Her grandfather had passed away, which she found in shock, but she accepted it. He had died peacefully, and she was glad for that. She just wished she'd been here to say goodbye…

Suddenly, a mental image of her grandfather chasing InuYasha around with some fake sutra's popped into her head, and she held back a giggle. He was probably having fun anyways, he was happy, and that was all that really mattered.

She heard the door slide open, and her younger brother announce that he was home. She automatically sat up, getting a curious look from Sesshomaru, but she ignored him for the moment. Her brother had walked into the room.

He had, apparently, grown like a weed, probably 5 feet tall even though he was only twelve now, and his eyes were sparkling, his hair still black as night. She smiled. He looked so happy…

"Kagome?!"

She nodded, and opened her arms as he ran into her arms in a tight embrace. Sesshomaru just watched the two in interest as brother and sister reunited. Apparently, she and her younger had a better relationship than he and InuYasha had had.

"We thought you were dead…"

"Well, I guess I'm not," she smiled.

Oh," he said, remembering something as he parted from his sister and looked at her with a smile on is face, "So you know, you went to Kyoto to visit your Aunt."

"We don't have an Aunt." She said in confusion, a smile on her lips.

"Exactly." His eyes sparkled with laughter.

She giggled, "Who came up with that one?"

"I did. Grandpa wanted to say you were put in a coma and shipped of to the US." He laughed.

She giggled again, "Your idea was better."

Sota then gave Sesshomaru a strange look, "Who's he?"

Kagome smiled, hearing her son entering the house from somewhere with her mother, "Remember how I told you about InuYasha's older brother, Sesshomaru?"

Her brother nodded, looking a bit confused.

"This is him."

Sota looked shocked and surprised, "I thought you said he tried to kill you!" He suddenly sounded angry.

"He did," Kagome smile didn't fade, "But things have changed—"

"MOMMY!!!" Yue yelled brightly, running over to his mother.

Sota just stared as his sister took her son into her lap and spoke, "A lot of things have changed." Kagome looked up at her brother from her seat next to Sesshomaru, "You're and Uncle now, Sota. This is InuYasha's and my little boy, Yue."

Sota could only stare.

-----

"He's… dead?"

Kagome's face showed a bit of sadness, but she nodded, "Yes."

Sota was shocked, and found he could say little. InuYasha had been something of an older brother to him…

"But… but Naraku is dead too now, right?"

Kagome's face lightened a little, "Yes."

"At least that's good news," he muttered, looking at a wall but not really seeing.

"Mommy?" Yue asked from Sesshomaru's lap, looking at his raven haired mother.

"Yes?"

"Who he?"

Kagome smiled, taking her child from Sesshomaru, "This is your uncle, Sota. He's my brother."

"Like Sess-sama?" The little boy asked.

"Yes, just like Sess-sama." Kagome giggled, ignoring the annoyed look her love was giving her.

Yue looked Sota's way, "Hi Soda!"

Kagome and her brother laughed at the mispronunciation of the name, and Sota took his nephew into his arms, "He looks like both you and InuYasha," he commented.

"He does, doesn't he?" Kagome agreed, leaning up against Sesshomaru's chest again, the daiyokai sitting next to her.

"Who?" The little one asked curiously.

"Daddy," Kagome answered, "You look like Daddy."

Yue giggled with glee, "Daddy!"

Sota chuckled softly at his nephew. He may look like his father, but right now, they were nothing alike. He was acting more like Kagome on a serious sugar high right now. Then the young child yawned.

"Guess what time it is…" Kagome said with a smirk on her face.

"NO!" Yue suddenly yelled, jumping out of his uncle's arms, "No bedtime!"

Kagome's smile widened, "Are you going to make me chase you, Yue?"

"Yes!" Yue said defiantly, "I faster!"

Kagome's eyebrow rose, "Oh really?"

Yue stuck his tongue out at his mother, and then ran for it, moving fairly quickly with his not yet mastered demonic speed. But, even though it was true that his mother may not be able to catch him, that didn't mean Sesshomaru couldn't. And, quickly, Sesshomaru had scooped the child up into his arms, returning him to his mother. Yue, obviously not happy with his father's brother, refused to look at the daiyokai the whole time he was put to bed.

"Goodnight," his mother said as she tucked him into her bed minutes later, smiling at her pouting son.

"No."

Kagome giggled, "I'll go to bed soon as well, Yue. And anyways, you're tired. You need some sleep."

"No I don't."

She kissed her son's forehead, smiling, "Goodnight Yue. I love you."

The boy looked up at her for a moment, then mumbled his reply, "Love you too, Mommy."

He watched his mother's smile widen a bit, and then heard her yawn.

"Apparently, you're son is not the only tired one, Kagome." Sesshomaru commented as he walked into the room, flipping the switch to turn off the lights and closing the door behind him, "Perhaps you should rest as well."

She shook her head yawning again as Sesshomaru came up behind her, "I'm fine."

"I see where Yue gets his stubbornness from." Sesshomaru commented, "Now lie down."

Kagome pouted for a second, but obeyed, sliding into bed next to her sleepy son.

"Sleep." Sesshomaru said quietly, turning to leave.

"Stay with me," Kagome suddenly asked, though she was speaking quietly, "Please don't leave."

He turned around once more, facing her. How could he say no to her?

So, he nodded, quickly and gracefully shedding his shirt. He barely ever rested with that thing on. And, with his perfect night vision, he could see her blush clearly.

"Would you rather me keep it on?" he asked her quietly, coming closer to the bed.

She shook her head, "It's alright."

He couldn't help but smile as he slid underneath the covers, finding his spot beside her. She cuddled up against his chest automatically; the bed being small and her son already in a deep sleep, and fell into his warmth.

"Sesshomaru," she muttered, "I love you…"

He pulled her a bit closer to him, "As do I."

* * *

She awoke alone, the sun shining in through the window. At first, she panicked, thinking that he may have left. But she calmed down as she heard his voice carry up the stairs, following a laugh from her son. So, quickly, she dressed into a black t-shirt and blue jeans, and then stumbled down the steps, meeting her family in the dining room. 

"Good morning." Sesshomaru said from his seat at the table, Yue sitting in his lap.

"Morning," she smiled in return, going to sit at his side.

"Mommy!" Yue greeted, munching on a piece of cereal.

"Morning, Yue, my hyper little boy," She greeted in return, smiling a bit wider.

Yue giggled, offering his mother a piece of dry cereal. She took it and popped it in her mouth, Yue giggling again.

"What do you want to eat, Kagome?" her mother asked from the kitchen.

"Umm… I think I'm good. I'll eat later."

"No," Sesshomaru said, "Eat."

She frowned up at him, "Why? I don't want to."

"You sound like your son. Now get something to eat."

Kagome pouted, "Fine. Mama? Can I have some cereal please?"

She heard her mother laugh softly, "Alright."

Then the cereal was in front of her, and she ate it while Sesshomaru watched her, his eyes distant. He'd have to leave today…

When she finished and put hers and her son's dishes away, Sesshomaru beckoned her next to the well house.

"Yes?" She asked, her brown eyes full of happiness even though she knew what was coming.

"…I will have to leave today."

He watched her face fall into sadness, and felt a twinge of guilt and pain in his chest. He wanted to stay with her, but he couldn't, he just couldn't. He had to return to Rin and Jaken, and to the Western Lands. There was just no other choice… She couldn't even come back with him.

"I know." She said plainly, trying to hide the tears that were swimming in her eyes, though she failed miserably.

"This Sesshomaru wants nothing more than to stay with you, Kagome," he said quietly, taking hold of her hand, placing something in it.

"I know that, Sesshomaru," she said, gazing up into his golden eyes, "But there isn't much that we can do to stop this, is there?"

"No… there isn't…." he hated to admit it.

Now he realized how his father had felt when he had realized he couldn't stay his whole life with Izayoi. His life was just too long, and her life was just too short. Over a thousand years of life he had lived, and he still had more to go, and yet his mortal love could only, hopefully, live for maybe 30 more years.

Something flickered in the back of his mind. In the scale of yokai ages, he was still considered young…

"Kagome," he said, his voice a bit lighter, "Will you trust me?"

"Of course," her voice was breaking.

"Wait for me," he said softly, "Just wait for me. I promise you, this won't be our last moment spent together."

She looked up at him, a tear falling as her eyes filled with confusion, "What do you mean?"

"One day, you'll see… You'll just have to trust me. Trust me as long as you possibly can."

She nodded, tears silently falling down her face, "I love you…"

"As do I, Kagome," he was whispering now, "…But now I must leave…"

She nodded, unable to say anything.

Then his lips met hers, and stayed there as long as they could. But, even that was all too short. When they parted, he left, unable to stay any longer unless he wanted to break down.

"Goodbye my love…" he had told her.

"Goodbye…"

And then she was alone again, in a cold, unfair world, unable to speak or move from the coldest spot in her world.


	19. Crescent Tetsuaiga

**Here it is, the end. I love all of you that have followed my story and reviewed through out my insanity. I thank you. If you have any questions, either mention it in your review, or find my email adress that is posted in Author's notes in past chapters.**

* * *

For the first time in his life, he felt alone. 

For the millionth time in her life, she felt alone.

Even separated through time and space, they felt exactly the same, longing for the other. One, trapped in the depths of the past, was beginning to experience some emotions for the first time since he was a child, and it was surprising him that someone could make him feel that way. The other, floating in the mystery of the future, could only hold herself together because of the child that she had given birth to, and the child that was her entire life. But, though 500 years separated them, they were never alone, no matter how they felt. There was a sword, a destroyed sword, from the ghost of another that held them together through the cruelty of time. Neither of them were aware of it, but it held them together, intertwining their destines.

The first who dwelled in the past, learned to realize that feelings weren't a burden, but merely a thing of life, even though he was a demon. He soared through time carefully and gracefully, patiently awaiting the day he would return to her. Eventually, the comrades that had followed him so loyally were laid down to rest, the young girl that had followed him living a long life and dying peacefully. It had taken him a while to accept that she had died, but he did over time, allowing the young girl to float into his many memories. He kept his position of Lord of the West close to him, and led a demonic reign that was better than most, even when the demons of his world had to blend in to the mortals around them. He didn't mind it much, but he would have rather preferred for the mortals to stay as dumb and harmless as they had been in the past.

And as he floated through time, never changing, he met up with an old wolf comrade that had fought alongside him in the past battle against his enemy, and they became something of acquaintances, not quite on the level friends would be. But, none the less, Koga began to soar through life with him, he too never changing.

And the other, the shikon maiden, began to heal, and she trusted her love completely, waiting for his return. She raised her son better than any mother could, even though she attended school, and the young boy grew quickly, growing just as strong as his mother by the age of five. The young boy, by the name Yue, quickly learned that he was not like the others, that he had to hide his true identity to avoid being shunned and possibly being taken for "scientific research." But, he didn't find any hatred in that fact, he just allowed himself to be with his mother, content with his life, as he too awaited the return of the mysterious love his mother spoke of.

She had soared through her own life with ease, standing up for herself and her young son when ever she needed to, never letting herself be beaten down by the world around her. She wore the necklace that had been shoved into her palm upon her love's departure with pride, the crescent shard of Tetsusaiga never daring to cut her skin. And here she laid underneath the Tree of Ages, awaiting her love for yet another day, her five year old son sitting beside her.

"Mama?" he asked quietly, yawning softly.

"Yes?" she said, opening her eyes from a distant daydream.

"Can we go somewhere?" he asked, staring up at the tree that his mother loved so much, "I'm bored here…"

Kagome stared at her son with a grin on her face, "Where would you like to go?"

Her five year old paused, "I don't know. Just… somewhere…" he looked at his mother with confusion in his eyes, "…I feel like something is supposed to happen, Mama, and I don't know what it is… Something's gonna happen…."

Kagome gave her son a comforting smile. He seemed so much older than he really was…

"Alright, then," she said, standing up, her son following her lead, "We'll just walk somewhere then, go see what's going on."

Yue smiled, "Let's go!"

And they did, walking around the streets of Tokyo aimlessly, talking to each other about things that came to mind. They walked until night fell, never actually finding anywhere to stop, when Kagome told her son it was time to return to their home. He didn't argue, merely agreed, yawning.

"And when we get back, you're going to bed."

Yue frowned, "Can I take a shower?"

Kagome couldn't help but giggle, "Of course."

And, as the darkness fell around them, Kagome and her son retreated to their home, neither afraid of the darkness that waited around them. It was set like one of those horror movies, where someone comes out and grabs you, but neither of them had any fear. Kagome could take care of both of them if anything did decide to attack them, and Yue could definitely overpower anyone in his way. Despite the young one's size, his demonic blood gave him kick-ass strength even at the age of five. And as they walked, Kagome rolled her necklace's crescent pendant around in her fingers. The shard had never cut her like it would to anyone else, and she guessed it was because she had been the reason that Tetsusaiga had transformed for InuYasha.

"_I'm just trying to protect you!"_ Those had been his words that day when the sword had lived for the first time since its original master's death, which had been the day when Sesshomaru had lost his arm.

She smiled. She missed him a bit, but there was nothing she could do about that. She remembered him fondly, but now she loved another, and she just let life flow as it did.

"Mama," Yue said, coming closer to her side, "Someone's coming…"

Kagome stopped walking, stopping in between two street lights. It had gotten so dark and she hadn't even noticed.

"We're almost home," she said quietly to her frightened son, "And nothing will hurt you, I promise."

The boy nodded, and they continued walking again, that something coming closer and closer by the second. A car drove by on the road noisily, breaking the heavy silence. This was just like a god damn horror movie… But then they were home, unharmed, as someone walked down the street below the steps of her family's shrine.

_So much for being afraid…_

And then the night wore on, both mother and son sleeping without worry. The next morning they awoke as they usually did, eating their breakfast together as they always did.

"Mama?"

She looked up from her cereal, "Yes?"

"Can we go to the park today?"

Kagome pondered the thought for a moment, "Sure."

Her son's face lit up, "Yay!"

She giggled, unable to control herself.

When they did depart for the park, the sun telling the world that it was noon, they brought their lunch along with them, Kagome's mother dropping them off. Yue had quickly run towards the playground equipment, no one else in sight, and started jumping from one to the other, moving as no human would. She almost scolded him, but remembered that there was no one around, and it was better for her to let him get his energy out now than later when it was time for bed. So she sat on a patch of soft grass and laid out the blanket for their picnic, watching her son run around faster than she could see. He was a talented boy, and she half wished she had never come home. If she had done that, at least he'd have some free reign to run around like an idiot and flaunt his demonic powers without real caution. Sesshomaru might have even taught the boy how to use them…

She sighed.

_Sesshomaru…_

And then, the one who had become her love exited a shop after buying nothing. His markings were gone and his hair pulled back, yet he still looked extraordinary, the women around him unable to stop staring. He really hated that. So, he began to walk down the streets, since he had never bothered to buy a car. Cars smelt bad to him, the gasoline disgusting to his nose even though he had grown accustomed to it. He walked without a goal, just seeing what there was to see in Tokyo.

For a long while, he remained silent, bored. But then, his eyes caught something.

There were stairs beside him, which had stopped him in his tracks, a familiar shire sitting a top them. His mind ran into a buzz, and he ran so fast no one could see him, unable to stop until he was at the door. Quickly he regained his control and moved away from the door, thinking things over. If this wasn't after the day he had left her, she still could be fighting Naraku, she still could be stuck in the past with him… If he showed up now and screwed up the order of things that Kagome was supposed to do to meet him, she could end up never falling in love with him. So, he closed his eyes, searching the scents in the house.

No Kagome. No Yue.

So, he walked away, his mask nearly broken off, his heart in his stomach. He was so close… close enough to touch her…

_A little longer, _he told himself, walking down the steps and away from the shrine he dearly wished to barge into. But then, he caught their scent, and cared not of the world around him, running off towards the scent of the one he loved, towards the two he had come to care for so much.

And there they met, at the park, in a tearful reunion. Both of them admitting their love for one another over and over, unable to ever picture themselves leaving each other ever again as they stood there in a strong embrace. And as she was hugged, Kagome had wondered if her story would ever end.

A mortal and a demon, so deeply in love, lived in harmony for as many years as possible. But there is a sad truth that applies to all mortals:

Their stories do come to an end.

But a demon's rarely do.

As she grew older, as her black hair turned into wisps of white, he stayed at her side, loving her gently and as strongly as he ever had. He loved her, she loved him. That was all there was to it, no matter how they changed. They had a single child in their time together, a girl named Sara, and she grew strong alongside her half brother, Yue. But, soon, the inevitable came. Kagome passed away, at an old age, held in Sesshomaru's arms as she exhaled her last breath. He had cried for the first time in his long life that night, though it was not loud, nor was it long, but none the less there were tears shed from his eyes. He was an immortal, she was a mortal. That was the harsh truth.

So, once his nephew and daughter needed him no longer, he left them, traveling to a Western beach in the dead of night. And as the crescent moon shone bright and the stars twinkled in the night, he gripped her necklace tight, blood trailing from his fist, and stepped into the surf, allowing a watery darkness to engulf him completely.

And then there was nothing. Only the love that could now last for eternity as a crescent necklace sank to the bottom of the ocean.


End file.
